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Gold/Mining/Energy : Rare Earth Elements and Exotic Metals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (10399)	5/10/2014 7:05:47 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24857

[REE] Frontier Rare Earths to unveil Zandkopsdrift prefeasibility study results in Q4, with several improvements expected Thu 9:54 am by Deborah Bacal proactiveinvestors.com Frontier Rare Earths (TSE:FRO) is expecting to announce the prefeasibility study results from its Zandkopsdrift rare earth element project in the fourth quarter of this year, and has confirmed that the report's delay has been worth the time invested as further tests are showing a number of engineering design and process improvements. The prefeasibility study was initially expected to be announced in the third quarter of last year, but Frontier decided that based on a review of the studies required for the report, there were several areas where potential engineering design and process improvements could be made that could have a "significant positive impact" on the capital and operating cost estimates for the South African project. The company, as a result, embarked on further test work to validate these improvements in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of this year. Frontier, in a statement released this morning, told investors that this work has now been completed and was successful in confirming the expected improvements. The revised flow sheet for the processing plant has now been finalized, and will include a front-end crushing and milling circuit, with the selected milling technology producing a sharply defined particle size distribution with downstream handling benefits, the company said. The processing plan will also feature an impurity pre-leach circuit which Frontier says will provide a significant mass reduction with low rare earth losses, and a consequent reduction in both capital and operating costs of the cracking and other downstream processes. The remaining engineering design work for the prefeasibility study is scheduled to begin this quarter, with the results of the report to be announced in the fourth quarter. The prefeasibility study is the summation of all aspects of proposed project development, including design of the processing plant and separation plant, power, water, roads, tailings, mining, reagent supply, logistics and environmental management. "We are encouraged by the good progress being made on the PFS for our Zandkopsdrift rare earths project," said CEO James Kenny in the release. "We look forward to announcing the results of the PFS later in 2014, and believe that this, backed by our strong balance sheet and partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, makes the company well positioned to reach its objective of being among the lowest cost new producers of high purity separated rare earths outside China." Indeed, Zandkopsdrift is expected to be one of the first new major producers of high purity separated rare earth oxides outside of China and, importantly, one of the largest producers of high demand critical rare earths, such as dysprosium and neodymium, used for anything from electric cars to smartphones and jet engines and missiles. Total production capacity of the project is estimated at 20,000 tonnes per year. Korea Resources Corp already owns an initial 10% stake, and has the option to increase its interest to up to 50% on completion of the definitive feasibility study (DFS), with Frontier fully funded through completion of both the PFS and DFS. The company said Thursday that recent metallurgical test work has also identified the potential for low-cost production of a manganese sulphate by-product, which could generate significant additional revenue, according to Frontier's statement. Manganese sulphate is used as a micronutrient in animal feed and in fertiliser and is also used as a chemical intermediate. The rare earth developer is currently conducting additional test work to see if the provision for the production and sale of the by-product will be included in the prefeasibility study. Frontier, which currently has $32 million in cash and no debt, says it is also continuing to identify and develop a portfolio of new projects in Africa, with commodities of interest including graphite, tungsten and phosphate. It already has a 70% interest in a private company that holds three graphite exploration licenses in Mozambique, on which it expects to be able to provide an update on their potential later this year. Finally, the company said it is currently looking at ways to maximize the potential long-term value for its shareholders as it believes its trading price in Toronto does not reflect the value of Frontier and its assets. The stock is currently trading below cash, with a market cap of $29 million.