Name of the Project
Makuutu rare earths project.

Location
Uganda, 120 km east of Kampala.

Project Owner/s
Ionic Rare Earths (IonicRE). The company currently owns 51% of Makuutu; however, it will increase its stake to 60% on the completion of the feasibility study before October 2022 and has a pre-emptive right over the remaining 40% stake.

Project Description
Makuutu is an ionic adsorption clay (IAC) deposit. IAC deposits contain rare-earth elements ionically bonded to the clay rather than existing as primary minerals in the ore.

A base case scoping study has demonstrated the potential for Makuutu to become a sustainable, long-life operation, supplying critical rare-earth oxide (REO) and heavy rare-earth oxide to global markets, and generating strong financial returns while delivering significant social and economic benefits for the local communities.

The study proposes openpit mining over an initial 11-year mine life, with the IAC run-of-mine (RoM) fed into a modular heap-leach plant, where the REO is recovered from the IAC mineralisation using salt desorption to produce a mixed rare earth carbonate product.

The first module will process 2.50-million tonnes a year of RoM and produce about 800 t/y REO equivalent product.

Additional modules will be added in years 2, 4, 6 and 9 to increase the plant throughput up to 12.50-million tonnes by Year 10.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $321-million and an internal rate of return of 38%, with a payback of about five years.

Capital Expenditure
Total capital expenditure (capex) is estimated at $301-million.

Preproduction capex, including contingency, is estimated at $89-million for Module 1, including the mining fleet.

The Module 2 expansion in Year 2 is estimated at $40-million.

The expansion from Module 2 to 5, estimated at about $172-million, will be funded from project cash flow.

Planned Start/End Date
Production is expected in 2024.

Latest Developments
IonicRE has reported pleasing assay results for Tranche 2 of the 8 220 m Phase 4 drill programme at the Makuutu rare earths project.

Tranche 2 comprised 60 drill holes, which all delivered clay and saprolite mineralisation intersections above the cutoff grade of 200 parts per million total REO less cerium dioxide.

“The primary objective of the Phase 4 infill drill programme was to increase the confidence on the mineral resource estimate at Makuutu to support a longer-life mine plan for the feasibility study. Pleasingly, the higher grades and thickness we have observed in the infill drilling, and also in the areas . . . outside the current mineral resource estimate, infer that we will also see a potential increase in the total quantum of resource at Makuutu.

“The thicknesses of the clay zones under shallow cover further differentiates Makuutu as a truly unique asset – a proven ionic adsorption clay of scale rapidly advancing towards development,” IonicRE MD Tim Harrison has said.

He notes that the company expects to release an updated mineral resource estimate in the second quarter of next year.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
IonicRE, tel +61 8 9481 2555.