Chemical company turning waste into money with half its operations in Africa advances $912 million Brazil rare earth project
The company, recognized for pioneering the first commercial extraction of rare earth elements from phosphogypsum, indicated that the PFS will evaluate an on-site processing facility designed to handle approximately 2.7 million tonnes of phosphogypsum waste annually over an anticipated 30-year period.
The Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) follows a successful economic evaluation of the Uberaba Project conducted in March.
Outside of the Uberaba project, Rainbow Rare Earths has only its Phalaborwa Project in South Africa, which it is currently developing.
According to the company, “The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project, located in South Africa, has a total JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 35.0 Mt at 0.44% TREO contained within phosphogypsum in two unconsolidated stacks derived from historic phosphate hard rock mining.”
On the flip side, the Uberaba project is located in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, where Mosaic operates phosphate mining and processing facilities.
Rainbow Rare Earths currently mines phosphate rock and produces phosphoric acid at the site, primarily for use in the fertiliser industry.
Mosaic is sending an additional six tonnes of phosphogypsum from its Uberaba operations to Rainbow Rare Earths’ laboratory and pilot plant in South Africa.
The proposed project is designed to produce separated neodymium and praseodymium oxide, alongside a mixed samarium, europium and gadolinium (SEG+) rare earth carbonate containing higher concentrations of medium and heavy rare earth elements.
Both products are expected to achieve purities of about 99.5%, as reported by Mining Weekly.
An economic assessment released in March estimated that Uberaba could have a post-tax net present value of $916 million and an internal rate of return of 45%.
“Following the successful results of the economic assessment and the signing of the joint development agreement with Mosaic, we are pleased to continue our partnership with the start of the PFS and appointment of SRK Consulting to complete the Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant MRE for the Uberaba project,” says Rainbow CEO George Bennett.
“Uberaba is expected to demonstrate the value of Rainbow’s proprietary IP across other phosphogypsum projects.
Strategically situated in Brazil, a crucial hub for rare earths supply chain independence and the focus of extensive US government support for the industry, and with the potential to deliver near-term REE production in the lowest-cost quartile, Uberaba represents a valuable opportunity for Rainbow to further leverage the expertise we have developed at Phalaborwa,” he adds.
The project is also projected to generate average annual EBITDA of $217 million over an initial 30-year operating period, with an estimated payback period of 1.7 years.
The estimates were based on spot rare earth prices reported by Argus Media at the time.