RE: Why are ASX stocks so in love with clay rare earths projects? A punter’s guide4 Aug 2023 01:46
You are dredging the bottom of the Barrel with that one Dumbo. At todays RE prices hardly any of the Projects listed in that Stockhead promo would be able to operate at a profit. Yes Clays are cheaper to process but the only difference between Clay and Hard rock is the requirement to Crack the RE's, once that is done the leaching and recovery process is basically the same.
300 degrees Celsius is nothing compared to Cement Kilns which operate at around 1350 C !
What is of the utmost importance is the Grades of the Payable components that make up the 'ORE'; note I said 'ORE' which by definition has to be economically recoverable ie generate a PROFIT;
By the way, Longonjo is free dig for at least the top 20 metres , and it carries 'ORE' grades from the surface down so little difference to mining clay. LJ has average grades of Nd 3,000ppm Pr 900ppm Dy 90ppm and Tb 20ppm. Now compare that to Makuuta Nd 110ppm Pr 30ppm Dy 10ppm and Tb 2ppm ? which by the way has a much higher Strip ratio ! Just looking at these four Magnet metals alone shows that Longonjo has an "In situ" value of $311/t compared to Makuuta's "In situ" value of $14.63/t.
Now once you factor in :- dilution, depletion, recoveries cost etc: LJ &MK both recover about 33%, so $100 vs $5, then once you delete Operating costs, it then it becomes patently obvious that Longonjo with an ASIC of $23/t will be generating around $80/t mined PROFIT while Makuuta with a declared ASIC of $12.40/t will be LOOSING at least $7-8/t mined.
The so called analyst who wrote that Stockhead article clearly does not understand mining economics; A bigger problem is that idiots like you read that 'promotional' garbage and make false / ill-informed judgments.