TIDMRBW
RNS Number : 1464G
Rainbow Rare Earths Limited
17 July 2023
17 July 2023
Rainbow Rare Earths Limited
("Rainbow" or "the Company")
LSE: RBW
MOU signed with The Mosaic Company in Brazil
Rainbow Rare Earths is pleased to announce that it has entered
into a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with The Mosaic Company
("Mosaic"), the world's leading integrated producer of concentrated
phosphate and potash, to jointly develop a process flowsheet and
conduct a preliminary economic assessment related to the extraction
of rare earth elements from Mosaic's phosphogypsum stack in the
Uberaba area of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
Highlights
-- Uberaba phosphate slurry feed is sourced from a hard rock
carbonatite similar to the Foskor carbonatite that originally fed
Sasol's phosphoric acid plant at Phalaborwa
-- Rainbow expects the Uberaba stack to have a similar grade and
rare earth element make-up as those at Phalaborwa due to the
similarities of the feedstock
-- Rainbow plans to develop a process flowsheet in conjunction
with Mosaic which will incorporate the proprietary technology
developed at Phalaborwa in order to extract the rare earth
elements
-- Rainbow and Mosaic will collaborate on the production of a
preliminary economic assessment of this opportunity
The Uberaba phosphogypsum stack contains valuable rare earth
elements that occur as by-products of phosphoric acid production.
The Uberaba phosphogypsum material is similar to Rainbow's
Phalaborwa project in South Africa in that it is based on a
hardrock carbonatite phosphate deposit, which is mined to initially
produce a phosphate slurry feed that is then processed into
phosphoric acid. While the hardrock carbonatite does not contain
rare earths in sufficient quantities to be mined for these elements
alone, the plant processes it undergoes serve to concentrate the
quantity of rare earths contained therein, resulting in higher
concentrations of rare earths than are in the original
hardrock.
This process also subjects the material to sulphuric acid and
heat, which effectively lead to 'cracked' chemical phosphogypsum
material at Phalaborwa and which is expected to have achieved the
same at the Uberaba stack. The benefit of this is that it can
render the rare earths associated with the phosphogypsum amenable
to direct acid leaching, which allows for a simpler
hydrometallurgical process to produce separated and purified rare
earth oxides.
Early indications are that the Uberaba phosphogypsum stack has a
grade similar to that of the stacks at Phalaborwa and contains a
similar makeup of rare earth elements. Samples from the stacks have
been taken and are currently undergoing testing by SGS Laboratories
in Toronto.
Under the terms of the MOU, Rainbow and Mosaic will look to
jointly develop a process flowsheet to extract the rare earth
elements from the Uberaba stack. Due to the similarity of the
Phalaborwa and Uberaba projects, Rainbow anticipates that the
majority of the Phalaborwa front end process flowsheet (jointly
developed by Rainbow and K-Technologies, Inc. ("K-Tech") to deliver
a mixed rare earth sulphate) will be applicable, as well as the
Phalaborwa back-end process flowsheet (the patented K-Tech
intellectual property ("IP") which uses continuous ion exchange and
continuous ion chromatography to deliver separated rare earth
oxides). Rainbow has the exclusive rights to use the K-Tech
back-end IP for Brazil.
Following the production of the process flowsheet, Rainbow and
Mosaic will collaborate on the production of a preliminary economic
assessment of this opportunity to extract rare earths.
George Bennett, CEO of Rainbow, commented: "This agreement with
Mosaic represents a major opportunity for Rainbow to apply the
proprietary extraction technology developed in conjunction with
K-Tech to become a multi-asset producer of rare earth elements from
secondary sources. The geographic diversification of our portfolio
further de-risks Rainbow as one of the only rare earth development
companies with multiple near-term production opportunities and
aligns with our aim to be a forerunner in the establishment of an
independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth elements
that are driving the green energy transition."
Corrine Ricard, Senior Vice President of Mosaic, commented :
"Innovation and sustainability are critically important to Mosaic
and that's why we are enthusiastic about the opportunity to work
with Rainbow to explore the extraction of rare earth oxides from
our gypsum stack. We've made considerable strides over the years in
advancing gypsum reuse - and this work is a natural extension of
that. As we execute our mission to help the world grow the food it
needs, the opportunity to further harness shared value out of the
coproducts we produce benefits Mosaic and its stakeholders. "
For further information, please contact:
Rainbow Rare Earths
Ltd Company George Bennett +27 82 652 8526
Pete Gardner
Cathy Malins
(IR) +44 7876 796 629
cathym@rainbowrareearths.com
Berenberg Broker Matthew Armitt +44 20 3207 7800
Jennifer Lee
Tavistock Communications PR/IR Charles Vivian +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
Tara Vivian-Neal rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
About Mosaic:
The Mosaic Company is one of the world's leading producers and
marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.
Mosaic is a single-source provider of phosphate and potash
fertilizers and feed ingredients for the global agriculture
industry. More information on the company is available at
www.mosaicco.com .
About Rainbow:
Rainbow Rare Earths aims to be a forerunner in the establishment
of an independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth
elements that are driving the green energy transition. It is doing
this successfully via the identification and development of
secondary rare earth deposits that can be brought into production
quicker and at a lower cost than traditional hard rock mining
projects, with a focus on the magnet rare earth elements neodymium
and praseodymium ("NdPr"), dysprosium and terbium.
The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project, located in South Africa,
comprises a total Mineral Resource Estimate of 30.4 Mt at 0.44%
TREO contained within unconsolidated gypsum stacks derived from
historic phosphate hard rock mining. High value NdPr oxide
represents 29.0% of the total contained rare earth oxides, with
economic Dysprosium and Terbium oxide credits enhancing the overall
value of the rare earth basket in the stacks. Rainbow will use a
proprietary separation technique developed by its partner
K-Technologies, Inc. for the plant at Phalaborwa, which simplifies
the process of producing separated rare earth oxides (versus
traditional solvent extraction), leading to cost benefits, as well
as being more environmentally friendly.
The Phalaborwa Preliminary Economic Assessment has confirmed
strong base line economics for the project, which has a base case
NPV(10) of US$627 million [1] , an average EBITDA operating margin
of 75% and a payback period of < two years. Pilot plant
operations will commence in 2023, with the project expected to
reach commercial production in 2026, just five years after work
began on the project by Rainbow. More information on the company is
available at www.rainbowrareearths.com .
[1] Net present value using a 10% forward discount rate
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