Modern Mining December 2019

allowance. It would take an estimated 14 months to construct and commission the mine. The open-pit mine, which has an average depth of 25 m and a negligible strip ratio, may be extended if infill drilling of some of the large amount of inferred mineral resources is successful. There is

development of a 2 Mt/a processing plant and asso- ciated infrastructure, producing a NdPr concentrate for export. For the first three years of operation, it is envisaged that the project will process 1,5 Mt/a of higher grade resources, producing 60 000 tonnes of concentrate in each year and containing

Bulldozer clearing access to drill pads for the current drilling programme.

Waterbore drilling at Longonjo in September 2019.

4 600 t/a NdPr and 20 700 t/a TREO. From the fourth year of operation the front end of the plant will be expanded to process 2 Mt/a and maintain con- centrate and NdPr production. If these objectives are achieved, the mine would rank as one of the world’s largest rare earth produc- ers, second only to Lynas’s Mt Weld operation in Australia, and the only major rare earths mine to be devel- oped anywhere in the world since 2012. In Africa, it would be only the second rare earths mine of any sig- nificance. Rainbow has the Gakara project in Burundi but this is currently a small mine (although there are plans to ramp up its production). The PFS estimates an upfront capi- tal cost of US$131 million, including mine development, process plant and infrastructure, and a 15 % cost growth

December 2019  MODERN MINING  21