RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:SPE is not even on DOD test list1. TREO is .61% - This grade is not low! It in fact represents one of the highest HREO head grades in the world. The south China clays, which produce the vast majority of HREO to the world at present, are a great deal lower in grade than .61%. Also, XRT actually doubles the Bokan mine grade right at mine mouth, by removing 1⁄2 of the weight, while retaining most all of the mineralized content. Hence the mill grade (the ore that is submitted to the mill) is effectively doubled to 1.22% TREO! Multiply this TREO figure by 40% HREO content and the Bokan mill grade is comprised of .50% HREO content. This is among the highest HREO mill grades in the world!!!
2. Mineral Content Uranium – Compared to Rare Earth deposits worldwide, Bokan Dotson Ridge actually has amongst the lowest uranium content signatures in the world . The BDR actually has about 100ppm U3O8 (and 200 ppm thorium), which is about the level you’d find in an average granite kitchen counter top!
3. The PEA uses prices that are 2 x higher than current prices – All PEA’s in the REE space have utilized prices that were higher than they are today (RES, TSM, QRM, GWG, etc,etc). This is because the prices have gone down for all players across the board. The net effect has been to reduce the estimated NPV on all projects. However, in the case of Bokan, management tells me that the decrease in prices has been hugely offset by the fact that 2/3rds of the Capex on the Bokan mine ($145M) will be provided by the State of Alaska. This means that the NPV is increased hugely compared to the original Bokan PEA, dramatically offsetting the price decreases. No other project in the world has this advantage. Also, see this Bloomberg article regarding the outlook for HREO prices (they’re set for a major upswing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/china-s-rare-earth-toxic-time-bomb-to-spur-12-billion-of-mines.html
4. SPE – Ucore is the only player using SPE extensively in the REE space, so the advantage of SPE is almost exclusively theirs at the present. See this web site for an overview of the SPE development coalition: https://www.metalsus.com/#!partners/c20zo Yes, others can elect to wade into the SPE pool at this late date if they wish, but they’ll be a good 3 years behind Ucore (UCU started SPE trials in 2011). Regarding your assertion that SPE is “not out of the lab yet”, Ucore tells me that the Bokan Pilot Plant (bulk scale testing) is in the final stages and will be released within 5 months (ahead of all others in the REE space...no one else is even close to a completed pilot plant).
5. XRT is a mature technology – Prior to Ucore, no one else in the REE space even looked at XRT (the technology was used in diamond and tungsten mining, and tin recycling prior to that). So, XRT technology is anything but mature in the REE space. Also, only two deposits in the world have delivered promising XRT results (Bokan and Namibia Rare Earths deposit in South Africa). The reason is that one has to have a very heterogeneous deposit for the x ray scanning to work. So, Ucore is one of the “oligarchs” of XRT; it’s a magic pill that works for them, but doesn’t work for anyone else! (Namibia Rare Earths excluded).
6. No BFS Yet – This is an ironic statement, since NO Junior in the REE space has delivered a BFS as of yet! This is like saying a horse has yet to finish a race, when the race is still being run, and all are still running. Also, Ucore is the lead horse at present, given that they plan to deliver their BFS within a year (see the timeline on their home page brochure).
So, “Lid Lid”, looks like all of your points are weak at best. The ball is in your court. Let’s see how you respond ...