PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths developer Peak Resources has refined the economics of its Ngualla project, in Tanzania, to include process optimisation studies and the latest rare earth pricing trends.
Based on the latest rare earths prices, Peak has decreased the expected post tax net present value from the $633-million considered in the April bankable feasibility study (BFS) to $612-million, while the post tax internal rate of return has increased from 21% to 22%.
On the back of the optimisation work concluded in August this year, which resulted in increased expected production from 28 300 t/y of mineral concentrate to 32 700 t/y of mineral concentrate, project costs have increased from the $356-million estimated in the BFS to $365-million, while average yearly operating costs have increased from $83-million to $91-million.
Peak CEO Rocky Smith told shareholders on Thursday that the updates to the Ngualla project gave further evidence that the project was "the best undeveloped rare earth deposit in the world", and with the increase in demand for neodymium and praseodymium driving prices higher, the company expected to see further improvements in Ngualla’s economics in the future.