Resouro PEA points to $1B potential rare earth and titanium project

Resouro Strategic Metals (TSX-V:RSM) has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for a starter operation at its flagship Tiros rare earths and titanium project in Brazil that it says confirms the potential for a billion-dollar operation.  

Prepared by a team led by Norda Stelo according to National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure, the PEA delivers post-tax NPV8 of $714.9m and post-tax IRR of 44.2%. 

One of the world’s largest JORC combined rare earths and titanium deposits, Tiros, located in Minas Gerais, hosts 1.4 billion tonnes in the higher confidence measured and indicated categories. 

Last year, measured and indicated resources increased by almost 37% to 1.4 billion tonnes at 12% titanium dioxide (TiO?) and 4,000 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO). These include measured resources of 367 million tonnes and indicated resources of 1 billion tonnes, both grading 12% TiO?. 
 

The MRE update, the company said at the time, marks a significant milestone as it establishes the Tiros project as home to one of the world’s largest and most significant resources of both titanium dioxide and rare earths. 

‘Robust economics’  

The study envisions a proposed 500,000 tonne per annum operation of approximately 90,000 tonnes of titanium dioxide (TiO2) concentrate and 3,636 tonnes of total rare earth oxide (TREO) products annually, over an initial 20-year mine life. 

A proposed starter operation targets less than 1% of the project’s 1.4Bt Measured and Indicated resource, leaving substantial scope for future expansion and long-term growth.  

The project benefits from low-strip, near-surface mineralisation, conventional processing and a dual-revenue stream from titanium dioxide concentrate and mixed rare earth carbonate products, the company said, adding that the overall recovery of titanium oxide is 68.7% and the recovery of rare earth elements to a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) is 67%.  

“The project’s robust economics are based on high levels of total rare earth oxides (TREO) and titanium oxide grades,” Resouro CEO Christopher Eager said in a news release.  

“We believe that starting with a small high-grade operation will minimize the social and environmental impacts, reduce the time to production and significantly de-risk the project,” Eager said. “Our goal with this staged approach is to support future financing and provide a pathway for larger scale development.”  

Resouro’s stock closed the day up 8.7% in Toronto. The company has a C$34 million ($24.3 million) market capitalization.