For personal use only

ASX / Media Announcement

17 February 2022

VITAL TO ACCELERATE HREO STRATEGY

Aims to be world's first Heavy and Light REO Producer

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Vital aims to be the world's first rare earths producer with capabilities to produce commercial quantities of both heavy and light rare earths
  • Vital's three-stage development strategy includes adding heavy rare earths to its existing light rare earths operation at Nechalacho with first production ~ mid 2022
  • The heavy rare earth strategy will investigate developing a zone of xenotime mineralisation, a heavy rare earth mineral, at Nechalacho's North T pit near the base of the current mining envelope
  • Vital will re-assay historical core and investigate further drilling to update North T's resource estimate in 2022
  • Vital also plans to complete a metallurgical testwork program to confirm a potential process flowsheet for the xenotime zone
  • Vital will target a 10 year operation from the North T Xenotime Zone
  • Vital is also completing due diligence on Kipawa and Zeus heavy rare earths projects in Quebec which would further add to its heavy rare earth production profile.

Canada's first rare earths producer Vital Metals Limited (ASX: VML) ("Vital" or "the Company") is pleased to announce it will focus 2022 work programs on becoming the first rare earths producer capable of producing commercial quantities of both heavy and light rare earths.

Vital aims to progress its three-stage development strategy - foundation (targeting customer acceptance of product); growth (expansion of 1 million contained ton resource); and production of heavy rare earths.

Vital completed its first mining campaign at North T at its Nechalacho rare earths project in Northwest Territories, Canada, in 2021. It is on track to produce first rare earth carbonate at its Saskatoon extraction facility in mid-2022.

Its second stage will focus on growth via the Tardiff deposit at Nechalacho (which has a contained REO resource of in excess of 1 million contained tons), as well as development of the Wigu Hill rare earths project in Tanzania, where it is continuing discussions for a Mining Licence.

With plans to add heavy rare earths to its production capabilities, Vital will focus its 2022 work plans on development of a xenotime subzone identified in North T's 2019 Mineral Resource, which would transform Vital into the world's only REE producer of light and heavy rare earths.

In addition, it is continuing due diligence to acquire interests in two heavy rare earths projects, Kipawa (68%) and Zeus (100%) in Quebec, Canada from Quebec Precious Metals Corporation.

For personal use only

Vital Metals' Managing Director Geoff Atkins said: "We've worked so hard to achieve our foundation goals over the past two years, focusing on mining and sorting ore from North T at Nechalacho and commencing construction of our rare earths extraction facility in Saskatoon as we aim to produce our first mixed rare earth carbonate mid this year. It has been pleasing to achieve this significant progress, given the impact of the global pandemic since early 2020.

"In light of the introduction of the bi-partisan Bill to the US senate which seeks to reduce the US reliance on Chinese rare earth elements by 2026, we are looking to accelerate our HREO strategy as we believe we are one of the only companies in the world that can produce both heavy and light rare earths to assist the US government with their goals.

Over the next 12 months, we will focus on our long-term growth plans which include becoming the world's first REE producer able to produce both heavy and light rare earth feedstock for separation. Being able to guarantee a secure source of both light and heavy rare earths will be critical to meeting the requirements of recent US and European legislation regarding the establishment of rare earth supply chains within these jurisdictions.

"To achieve this, we plan to incorporate North T's xenotime subzone, which sits beneath the base of the current mining envelope, into our development strategy, which could accelerate our plans to become a producer of both rare earths groups. The current North T operations and infrastructure provides an ideal opportunity for Nechalacho North T to become Vital's first heavy rare earth.

"We will benefit from the experience of our Chief Operating Officer Tony Hadley, who was part of the team to successfully design and commission the world's first heavy rare earth process plant for xenotime feedstock as Browns Range General Manager."

Vital's 3 Stage Development Strategy

Vital is implementing a 3 stage development strategy which will enable it to guarantee feedstock to the global rare earth supply chain. To achieve this goal it will be critical for Vital to demonstrate its capabilities to produce feedstock, build the capability for growth and supply both light and heavy rare earths to ensure the ability to fully satisfy customer requirements.

Stage 1: Foundations

Nechalacho North T

  • Demonstrate the ability to supply rare earth feedstock at specification critical for rare earth customer acceptance protocols.
  • Generate positive cashflow to fund expansion.
  • Operations at North T are continuing with approximately 5,000t of product forecast to be transported to Saskatoon this year.

Stage 2: Expansion and Growth

Nechalacho Tardiff

  • Large scale operation to provide long term security to the rare earth supply chain capitalising off a 1 million contained ton rare earth resource.

Wigu Hill

  • Expansion capability through an additional project.
  • Large carbonatite (6km+ strike) with limited drilling.

For personal use only

  • Multiple projects enable the flexibility to react quickly to changes in market demand and customer requirements.

Stage 3: Heavy Rare Earth Production - North T Xenotime

North T Xenotime/Kipawa

  • Enable Vital to be a 'one stop shop' for the supply of the full suite of rare earths.
  • Only HREO project in the world able to meet US requirement for non Chinese heavy rare earths.
  • Enabling Vital to become the first producer of commercial quantities of both light and heavy rare earths.

Heavy Rare Earth Production - Plans for 2022

In December 2019, Vital Metals announced JORC 2012 compliant Mineral Resources for its Nechalacho project which included an MRE for the North T Zone, demonstrating that the deposit contained two distinct zones of REE mineralisation, a bastnaesite subzone at surface and an underlying xenotime subzone.

For personal use only

Table 1 - JORC resources at North T Zone - 20191

Xenotime

Cutoff grade

Tonnage

Nd2O3

CeO2

Y2O3

Subzones

Y2O3

%

%

%

Indicated

>0.1%

346,270

0.156

0.271

Inferred

>0.1%

4,700

0.177

0.224

Indicated

Not

+ Inferred

>0.1%

350,970

0.156

0.270

Estimated

This was based on updated geological interpretations and a validated historic database, prepared according to the 2012 JORC code. Although historic assays were validated by core duplicates and the drill coverage was considered adequate, due to a lack of QAQC records for the historic assays, the resources were classed as indicated and inferred.

Vital partially mined the bastnaesite zone at North T in its 2021 mining campaign (refer ASX announcement 28th January 2022), and the xenotime zone lies near the base of the proposed final mining envelope.

6888600 Y

6888500 Y

6888400 Y

416400X

416500X

416600X

416700X

Figure 1: Plan view showing the topography and the 3D geology wireframes for the North T-Zone. Bastnaesite zones are shown in red,

with Xenotime zones in green

  • Refer ASX Announcement dated 13 December 2019 - Nechalacho Rare Earth Deposit - JORC 2012 Resources. Mineral Resource Estimation prepared in accordance with JORC 2012 under the supervision of Dr. William Mercer, registered Professional Geoscientist (P. Geo.) in the Northwest Territories and Ontario, Canada, as the Competent Person. The cutoff grade for this resource estimate is preliminary, at pre-scoping study level, as no detailed market, metallurgical or engineering studies have been performed.

For personal use only

200 Y

100X

200X

300X

Figure 2 Section view of the 3D geology wireframes for the North T-Zone (section direction approximately NW to SE)

In 2022, Vital aims to:

  • Re-assaycore from the xenotime zone with a view to defining a revised JORC resource; and
  • Undertake a scouting metallurgical testwork program to define a potential process flowsheet for the xenotime zone.

In its heavy rare earth strategy, Vital aims to develop the xenotime deposit at North T as its first heavy rare earths project with Kipawa to be its second potential heavy rare earths development.

This is an excerpt of the original content. To continue reading it, access the original document here.

Attachments

  • Original Link
  • Original Document
  • Permalink

Disclaimer

Vital Metals Limited published this content on 16 February 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 16 February 2022 22:43:06 UTC.