• Intro

• Joe Russell - GBM

• Project Development

• Phases, Locations

• Project Examples

• Swedish REE Project

• Slovakian Gold Project

Overview

1

Joe Russell

Chartered Engineer MIMechE BEng MPM

GBM - Engineering Manager

• Leading a multi-disciplinary engineering team

• Bidding new project work

• Project management and engineering

• Business management systems

About Me

2

Introduction to GBM

GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Limited

• Multi-Disciplinary Engineering Consultancy

• Process Plants and Infrastructure for Minerals and Metals Projects

• Worldwide Experience Since 1994

• Quality and Environmental Management System ISO 9001 and 14001

3

GBM Projects and Assignments

More than:

540 Projects

160 Clients

75 Countries

4

5

Resource Experience

Copper

Gold Lead Zinc

Silver

Graphite

Potash

Rare Earths

Phosphate

Uranium Nickel

MolybdenumAntimony

Manganese Iron Ore

Magnesium

Exploration

• Identify and Define Resources

Scoping

• Develop Options

PreFeasibility

• Select Preferred Option

Feasibililty

• Refine Selected Option

EPCM

• Design and Construct

Production

• Operate

Decommission

• Close and Manage

Project Development Phases

• Project Management Services• Test Work Management and Metallurgical Reviews• Due Diligence Assignments• Technical Reports NI 43-101, JORC and SAMREC• Competent Persons Reviews• Engineering Services• Client Representation

7

Process Flowsheet

8

Project Design

9

Construction

Process Plant - Milling Circuit

11

Gold Doré

→

12

Rare Earth Elements

→Rare Earth

Elements

Questions

H He

Li Be B C N O F Ne

Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar

K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr

Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe

Cs Ba Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rq Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo

La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu

Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr

Light Rare Earth Elements

Light REE

Questions

H He

Li Be B C N O F Ne

Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar

K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr

Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe

Cs Ba Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rq Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo

La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu

Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr

Heavy Rare Earth Elements

Heavy REE

Colour Screen Y, La, Pr, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy

Phone Circuitry La, Pr, Nd, Eu, Gd

Speakers Pr, Nd, Gd, Dy

Vibration Unit Nd, Tb, Dy

REE Uses - Electronics

REE Uses – Generators/Motors

REE Sources

• Currently REE supply mostly (97%) by China

• In Europe standards can be applied to ensure adverse project impacts are minimised and potentially altogether avoided.

• However, some impacts will be evident, and costs tend to be higher.

REE Project

Rare Earth Element (REE) Project

Located in Sweden

Rare Earth Element Project

RESOURCE OVERVIEW

• A zirconium and rare earth element enriched peralkaline

(agpaitic) nepheline syenite intrusion.

• These mineral phases are comprised of or associated with

REE's, zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), yttrium (Y) and hafnium

(Hf). These are strategic metals for Europe.

• Resource high in heavy REE's greater than 50% of the total

REE content. The main demand is for heavy REEs.

Rare Earth Element Project

RESOURCE OVERVIEW

• The resource is low in radioactive metals (Thorium /

Uranium). Important for permitting and waste management.

• The project is very well serviced by local infrastructure, both

of which facilitate rapid and cost effective exploration and

development.

Rare Earth Element Project

LOCATION, OWNERSHIP

• Project is located in southern Sweden.

• The project lies in mixed farming and forestry land, well serviced by

power, roads and water allowing all year round access, plus the benefit of

a skilled and well equipped community.

• In Sweden, a 0.25 % royalty is paid on production, shared between

landholders and government.

Underground Mining?

• Underground Mining was developed as a desktop option, despite the deposit being obviously amenable to open pit mining.

• Typically in such cases, open pit would be selected as the preferred mining method without further consideration of underground methods.

• This work was done to demonstrate a full understanding of the project options.

• The management team were willing to accept lower returns due the additional cost of underground methods if the permitting would have been easier / more likely.

REE Flowsheets

• REE projects have unique flowsheets .

• Front End Process selection is mineralogy dependent .

• Back End Process selection (purification) is driven by impurities and number of final products.

1. Physical beneficiation - used where possible.

2. Chemical beneficiation - leaching / crack.

3. Purification via chemical separation.

Process Chemistry Impact on Design

• Extractive Metallurgy must be considered with Waste Management by designers.

• The full life cycle must be considered.

• Both hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) flowsheets evaluated.

• Other acids theoretically possible (eg. Nitric).

Process Chemistry Impact on Design

HCl FLOWSHEET• 33% concentrated HCl means mainly transporting water, the

logistics killed transport to site option (more than 150km becomes increasingly uneconomic).

• Producing HCl onsite would require new power infrastructure and another chemical plant (very unlikely to be permitted).

• Assuming HCl was somehow available, acid recycling would consume substantial thermal energy, and Swedish/EU energy costs make this prohibitive.

• Solution chemistry means HCl recovery of Zr and Hf was poor (infeasible).

Process Chemistry Impact on Design

H2SO4 FLOWSHEET

• H2SO4 cannot be economically recycled.

• In other jurisdictions, neutralised solutions could potentially be discharged. However in Sweden dilution is not a solution. Especially in Natura 2000 areas.

• This means large quantities of gypsum are produced, with associated impacts on the waste profile of project (+600kt/a from a 1Mt/a throughput).

• Nephelene Syenite could be sold to re-balance the site material balance. It is a ceramic filler (etc).

• Project’s development could become driven by product quantities versus waste management strategies. These need to be traded off against each other.

Chemical Separation

Chemical separation after leaching:• Removal of impurities from soluble rare earths, such as:

Iron Uranium Thorium

• Solvent extraction• Ion exchange• pH adjustment• Single mixed product or separate rare earths• All circuits feature a rare earth precipitation step• Produce a thorium or uranium product• Circuit complexity highly variable, dependent on impurity levels and number of

final products

Selected Flowsheet – Physical Bene.

Selected Flowsheet – Leach + Purify

REE Project Summary

• PFS completed

No fatal flaws

Positive economics

Opaque market pricing

Permitting still regarded as difficult

Future iterations may be driven by waste streams

Gold Project in Slovakia

Gold Project

Located in Slovakia

Project Geography

Typical Ore Transport Options

• ROM Mining Trucks

• Primary Crushing and:

Conventional Road Trucks

Overland Conveyors

Trains

• Crush + Mill then Slurry Pipeline + Dewatering

Project Layout - Plan

2.2

1.22.2

Plant Layout

Gold Flowsheet – Crushing/Screening

Gold Flowsheet – Leach & Recovery

Gold Project Summary

• PFS completed

No apparent fatal flaws

Positive economics

Permitting potentially difficult

• Shortly after PFS, cyanide ban applied to project

Cyanide based flowsheet is key to economic gold recovery

Local partners key to permitting

Social License to operate?

Cyanide Alternatives?

“Alternative complexing agents for gold, such as chloride, bromide, thiourea, and thiosulfate form less stable complexes and thus require more aggressive conditions and oxidants to dissolve the gold. These reagents present risks to health and the environment, and are more expensive. This explains the dominance of cyanide as the primary reagent for the leaching of gold from ores since its introduction in the later part of the 19th century.”

International Cyanide Management Code

Questions

Process Plant

41

SAG and Ball Milling Model

Primary Crusher and Stockpile

44

Process Plant Design