RE: Luisa Moreno interview Dec.2
https://www.smallcappower.com/articles/rare-earths-space-02-12-2011.html
SmallCapPower.com: As you suggest, there are many challenges for companies developing REEs projects, but the two main challenges are high the costs of bringing a deposit into production and the lack of qualified people who understand the complex metallurgy of rare earth deposits. What companies, in your view, have best mitigated those challenges?
Luisa Moreno: I think companies that have deposits with types of ore minerals that have been processed before for the extraction of REEs, namely Molycorp and Rare Element Resources Ltd. (TSX:RES), are in a better position because there’s plenty of literature out there about processing the kinds of minerals in their deposits, so they should have an advantage. Molycorp has been able to raise pretty much all the money they need and Rare Element Resources is looking into building a concentration facility for less than US$150 million. That’s fairly economic compared to others.
SmallCapPower.com: What are some other names?
Luisa Moreno: Well, Matamec Explorations Inc. (TSX.V:MAT) has the Kipawa HREEs deposit in Quebec. They’re targeting a small-scale production, perhaps 5,000-8,000 tonnes REO per year. The company wants to focus on the critical heavy elements, which have a smaller market but higher prices. Matamec has received some coverage recently by my colleagues in other brokerages but it’s still somewhat under the radar. Matamec has done some very detailed work on its metallurgy; it’s fairly advanced compared to others. And we should see some type of off-take agreements there soon, potentially.
Another one is Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX.V:UCU) and its Bokan-Dotson deposit in Alaska, which is similar to Matamec in terms of their deposit size and focus on heavy rare elements, particularly dysprosium.