Scoping study on Brazilian Rare Earths' Rocha da Rocha project confirms lowest-cost Western supply opportunity

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. ASX-listed Brazilian Rare Earths' newly published scoping study on the Rocha da Rocha rare earths project, in Brazil, particularly its anchor Monte Alto deposit, finds the potential for life-of-mine average production of 5 276 t/t of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide and 2 253 t/y of heavy rare earth concentrate, containing about 247 t of dysprosium and terbium and 989 t of yttrium. This scale positions Brazilian Rare Earths as a potential leading supplier for a growing market that needs more heavy rare earth feedstocks. The company identified the Rocha da Rocha's flagship deposit, Monte Alto, in February 2024 and deems it the anchor of a broader critical minerals province with the potential to become one of the most important new sources of rare earth supply globally. Monte Alto's primary and residual mineralisation averages 11.3% total rare earth oxides, which gives Brazilian Rare Earths a high-grade structural advantage that few rare earth projects can match globally. The scoping study reports an after-tax net present value of $7.9-billion, an after-tax internal rate of return of 89% and a payback period of 1.1 years. The Monte Alto operation can generate life-of-mine average yearly earnings of about $1.37-billion. CEO and MD Bernardo da Veiga says the high grades at Monte Alto changes the entire development equation, since fewer tonnes, a smaller mining footprint and lower processing intensity is economically viable. The scoping study finds Rocha da Rocha to be the lowest-cost non-Chinese rare earth project and the second-lowest-cost project globally on Benchmark Mineral Intelligence's rare earth cost curve at $21/kg of NdPr-equivalent, before potential future cost credits from uranium, scandium, nobium and other co-products. The company has determined a simple initial development strategy focused on a seperated NdPr oxide and a heavy rare earths-rich concentrate containing significant amounts of dysprosium, terbium, yttrium and gadolinium. Brazilian Rare Earths says uranium is being advanced as a strategic co-product and future value pathway, while scandium, nobium and tantalum provide additional upside for future studies. "The key point for shareholders is that the initial scoping study investment case does not rely on the suite of critical mineral co-products. It is built on high-grade Monte Alto feedstock, a simple beneficiation pathway and the production of rare earth products that global customers urgently need," Da Veiga explains. Monte Alto will be designed as a small-footprint mine site operation using dry crushing, screening and sensor-based ore sorting, with no chemical processing at the mine site. Upgraded feed will be transported to the company's planned Camaçari refinery hub, located within an established industrial complex with access to infrastructure, utilities, reagents, industrial services, logistics and skilled labour. This unique hub-and-spoke model allows us to keep the mine site operations to a minimum while locating more complex hydrometallurgical and separation activities in an established industrial environment. Having signed a binding ten-year offtake and engineering, and technical services agreement with French rare earth processor Carester in October last year, Brazilian Rare Earths says Carester's role in the scoping study further strengthens the development pathway of Monte Alto. Carester's downstream seperation work supports the production of high-purity NdPr oxide and a heavy rare earths-rich concentrate. Da Veiga says the significance of this scoping study is not simply that Rocha da Rocha generates compelling economics across this wide range of price scenarios, rather, its greater importance is that it highlights a unique combination of project str...