Abandoned copper mines embraced as fast track to boost output
A range of companies are firing up abandoned assets once seen as financial liabilities to fast-track significant volumes of supply.
European rare earths developer Critical Metals (Nasdaq: CRML) has flagged additional upside for its flagship Tanbreez project in Greenland after its exploration team identified two high-grade areas that were previously not factored into its development strategy.
Critical Metals acquired a controlling stake in Tanbreez in June, hailing it as a potential “game-changing” mine project for North America’s rare earths supply chain. By total resource count, it is ranked the largest rare earth deposit in the world at 28.2 million tonnes of total rare earth oxides (TREO) contained within 4.7 billion tonnes of material.
Drilling kicked off last month, consisting of 14 holes with a total cumulative length of up to 2,200 metres. The objective of the drill program was to upgrade the Tanbreez resource to US SEC standards and enhance the potential mine throughput. Critical Metals’ team is currently actively cutting and preparing the drill core for testing.
In Tuesday’s update, the company said that its team examined three areas containing high-grade rare earth material during the past field season. Two of the areas were not initially envisioned for mining, namely Horizon Zero, where limited testing returned about 5% zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), and EALS, located above the unit designated for mining. The third area had high-grade, coarse-grained pegmatites next to the access road of the Tanbreez project’s proposed tailings site.
With the new information, Critical Metals said it will now mine the run-of-the-mill ore at 1.7-1.9% ZrO2, producing a concentrate at 10% ZrO2, 2.5% REO (30% heavy REO), 1.0% Nb2O5, and 0.15% Ta2O5 and HfO2 between late spring to mid-autumn, or approximately eight months of the year. During the winter months, it will enhance the cost-effectiveness of its development strategy by reducing labor and electricity usage while maintaining the same level of rare earth concentrate production.
For this strategy, the company said it has begun discussions with Nukissiorfiit, the Greenland government’s electric company, to secure a reliable and sustainable power source to support the production of up to 3 tonnes of rare earth materials annually.
Shares in Critical Metals gained 3.5% on the NASDAQ by midday trading to $6.45 apiece, with a market capitalization of $526.45 million. The company is a unit of European Lithium (ASX: EUR).
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