Name and Location
Browns Range heavy rare earths (RE) project, Australia.

Client
Northern Minerals.

Project Description
Northern Minerals proposes to develop an RE mine and mineral processing operation at a location about 160 km south-east of Halls Creek, in Western Australia.

Northern Minerals intends to mine RE ore using a combination of openpit and underground mining methods.

The proposed project comprises:
• mining xenotime ore from the Wolverine, Gambit, Gambit West and Area 5 deposits, initially using an opencut mining method and then transitioning to underground mining to access deeper orebodies;
• treating ore to produce a mixed RE oxide product; and
• transporting product by road to an export facility at Wyndham or Darwin.
The project also involves a range of related activities, including:
• the excavation and storage of overburden and waste rock;
• the storage of wastes from ore processing (tailings);
• mine dewatering and the construction and operation of a water supply borefield;
• transport, storage and use of fuels and reagents;
• the construction and operation of process water supply and evaporation ponds, both lined with a geomembrane to control seepage;
• the construction and operation of a mine accommodation village, power-generating facilities, an airstrip and a landfill, as well as water and sewage treatment facilities;
• the upgrade or construction of mine access and haul roads; and
• mine decommissioning, rehabilitation and closure.

The ore will be treated through on-site process plants consisting of a beneficiation plant and a downstream hydrometallurgical plant. The beneficiation plant will treat up to 585 000 t/y of ore to produce an estimated 17 045 t/y of mineral concentrate at a grade of 20% total RE oxide. The mineral concentrate will be further treated in the hydrometallurgical plant to produce 279 000 kg/y of dysprosium, contained within 3.2-million kilograms a year of high-purity mixed RE oxide. The mixed RE oxide product will be packaged on site and exported to international markets.

The project has a ten-year mine life.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value estimated at $446-million, an internal rate of return of 33% and a 3.3-year payback from start of production.

Value
Preproduction capital is estimated at $313.7-million.

Duration
The company expects construction to start in 2015, followed by production in late 2016.

Latest Developments
The Western Australian government has given environmental approval for Northern Minerals to develop its Browns Range heavy RE project.

The environmental clearance marks the completion of the Browns Range project’s primary environmental assessment process and paves the way for the development of the project. Northern Minerals will now focus on finalising the feasibility study for the project and securing offtake and financing to progress Browns Range through to construction in 2015 and commissioning in 2016.

The environmental approval also facilitates the assessment and subsequent approval of the secondary licences, which Northern Minerals has been working on concurrently during the primary environmental assessment process.

These approvals include the mining proposal and project management plan from the Department of Mines and Petroleum, the works approval and licences from the Department of Environment Regulation and water licences from the Department of Water.

The project will not require federal assessment, as it was previously deemed ‘not a controlled action’.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
AMC Mining Consultants (mine design and scheduling), DRA Global (beneficiation plant, power station, accommodation village), Hatch (hydrometallurgical plant, wastewater treatment plant), Sargon Engineering (METSIM modelling), Golder Associates and Knight Piésold Consulting Engineers (tailings management and storage), Klohn Crippen Berger (project water supply), Intech Engineers (airstrip), Shawmac (access roads), Wyntac Logistics (project logistics), NAGROM Laboratories (beneficiation and hydrometallurgical testwork), SGS Lakefield (beneficiation pilot plant), ANSTO Minerals (hydrometallurgical pilot plant) and ALS Ammtec (hydrometallurgical testwork).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Northern Minerals project manager Robin Jones, tel +61 08 9481 2344, fax +61 08 9481 5929 or
email rjones@northernminerals.com.au.
AMC Mining Consultants, tel +61 8 6330 1100, fax +61 8 6330 1199 or email amcperth@amcconsultants.com.
DRA Global, tel +61 8 9324 3833 or email admin@drap.com.au.
Hatch, tel +61 8 9428 5000, fax +61 8 9428 5555 or email hatch@hatch.com.au.
Sargon Engineering, tel +61 8 9457 2296 or email info@sargon.com.au.
Golder Associates, tel +61 8 9213 7600 or fax +61 8 9213 7611.
Knight Piésold Consulting Engineers, tel +61 8 9223 6300 or fax +61 8 9223 6399.
Klohn Crippen Berger, tel +61 8 9486 5400 or fax +61 8 9486 5499.
NAGROM Laboratories, tel +61 8 9399 3934 or fax +61 8 9497 1415.
SGS Lakefield, tel +61 8 9373 3500.
ANSTO Minerals, tel +61 2 97173895, fax +61 2 97179129 or email ansto.minerals@ansto.gov.au.
ALS Ammtec, tel +61 8 9344 2416.