REG - Rainbow Rare Earths - MOU signed with The Mosaic Company in Brazil

Rainbow Rare EarthsAnnouncement

17/07/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1464G  Rainbow Rare Earths Limited  17 July 2023

17 July 2023

Rainbow Rare Earths Limited

("Rainbow" or "the Company")

LSE: RBW

 

MOU signed with The Mosaic Company in Brazil

Rainbow Rare Earths is pleased to announce that it has entered into a
memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with The Mosaic Company ("Mosaic"), the
 world's leading integrated producer of concentrated phosphate and potash, to
jointly develop a process flowsheet and conduct a preliminary economic
assessment related to the extraction of rare earth elements from Mosaic's
phosphogypsum stack in the Uberaba area of Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Highlights

·    Uberaba phosphate slurry feed is sourced from a hard rock carbonatite
similar to the Foskor carbonatite that originally fed Sasol's phosphoric acid
plant at Phalaborwa

·    Rainbow expects the Uberaba stack to have a similar grade and rare
earth element make-up as those at Phalaborwa due to the similarities of the
feedstock

·    Rainbow plans to develop a process flowsheet in conjunction with
Mosaic which will incorporate the proprietary technology developed at
Phalaborwa in order to extract the rare earth elements

·    Rainbow and Mosaic will collaborate on the production of a
preliminary economic assessment of this opportunity

The Uberaba phosphogypsum stack contains valuable rare earth elements that
occur as by-products of phosphoric acid production. The Uberaba phosphogypsum
material is similar to Rainbow's Phalaborwa project in South Africa in that it
is based on a hardrock carbonatite phosphate deposit, which is mined to
initially produce a phosphate slurry feed that is then processed into
phosphoric acid. While the hardrock carbonatite does not contain rare earths
in sufficient quantities to be mined for these elements alone, the plant
processes it undergoes serve to concentrate the quantity of rare earths
contained therein, resulting in higher concentrations of rare earths than are
in the original hardrock.

This process also subjects the material to sulphuric acid and heat, which
effectively lead to 'cracked' chemical phosphogypsum material at Phalaborwa
and which is expected to have achieved the same at the Uberaba stack. The
benefit of this is that it can render the rare earths associated with the
phosphogypsum amenable to direct acid leaching, which allows for a simpler
hydrometallurgical process to produce separated and purified rare earth
oxides.

Early indications are that the Uberaba phosphogypsum stack has a grade similar
to that of the stacks at Phalaborwa and contains a similar makeup of rare
earth elements. Samples from the stacks have been taken and are currently
undergoing testing by SGS Laboratories in Toronto.

Under the terms of the MOU, Rainbow and Mosaic will look to jointly develop a
process flowsheet to extract the rare earth elements from the Uberaba stack.
Due to the similarity of the Phalaborwa and Uberaba projects, Rainbow
anticipates that the majority of the Phalaborwa front end process flowsheet
(jointly developed by Rainbow and K-Technologies, Inc. ("K-Tech") to deliver a
mixed rare earth sulphate) will be applicable, as well as the Phalaborwa
back-end process flowsheet (the patented K-Tech intellectual property ("IP")
which uses continuous ion exchange and continuous ion chromatography to
deliver separated rare earth oxides). Rainbow has the exclusive rights to use
the K-Tech back-end IP for Brazil.

Following the production of the process flowsheet, Rainbow and Mosaic will
collaborate on the production of a preliminary economic assessment of this
opportunity to extract rare earths.

George Bennett, CEO of Rainbow, commented: "This agreement with Mosaic
represents a major opportunity for Rainbow to apply the proprietary extraction
technology developed in conjunction with K-Tech to become a multi-asset
producer of rare earth elements from secondary sources. The geographic
diversification of our portfolio further de-risks Rainbow as one of the only
rare earth development companies with multiple near-term production
opportunities and aligns with our aim to be a forerunner in the establishment
of an independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth elements that are
driving the green energy transition."

Corrine Ricard, Senior Vice President of Mosaic, commented: "Innovation and
sustainability are critically important to Mosaic and that's why we are
enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with Rainbow to explore the
extraction of rare earth oxides from our gypsum stack. We've made considerable
strides over the years in advancing gypsum reuse - and this work is a natural
extension of that. As we execute our mission to help the world grow the food
it needs, the opportunity to further harness shared value out of the
coproducts we produce benefits Mosaic and its stakeholders."

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd   Company  George Bennett     +27 82 652 8526
                                    Pete Gardner
                                    Cathy Malins (IR)  +44 7876 796 629
                                                       cathym@rainbowrareearths.com

 Berenberg                 Broker   Matthew Armitt     +44 20 3207 7800
                                    Jennifer Lee

 Tavistock Communications  PR/IR    Charles Vivian     +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
                                    Tara Vivian-Neal   rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk

 

Notes to Editors:

About Mosaic:

The Mosaic Company is one of the world's leading producers and marketers of
concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Mosaic is a single-source
provider of phosphate and potash fertilizers and feed ingredients for the
global agriculture industry. More information on the company is available at
www.mosaicco.com (http://www.mosaicco.com) .

About Rainbow:

Rainbow Rare Earths aims to be a forerunner in the establishment of an
independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth elements that are
driving the green energy transition. It is doing this successfully via the
identification and development of secondary rare earth deposits that can be
brought into production quicker and at a lower cost than traditional hard rock
mining projects, with a focus on the magnet rare earth elements neodymium and
praseodymium ("NdPr"), dysprosium and terbium.

The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project, located in South Africa, comprises a total
Mineral Resource Estimate of 30.4 Mt at 0.44% TREO contained within
unconsolidated gypsum stacks derived from historic phosphate hard rock mining.
High value NdPr oxide represents 29.0% of the total contained rare earth
oxides, with economic Dysprosium and Terbium oxide credits enhancing the
overall value of the rare earth basket in the stacks. Rainbow will use a
proprietary separation technique developed by its partner K-Technologies, Inc.
for the plant at Phalaborwa, which simplifies the process of producing
separated rare earth oxides (versus traditional solvent extraction), leading
to cost benefits, as well as being more environmentally friendly.

The Phalaborwa Preliminary Economic Assessment has confirmed strong base line
economics for the project, which has a base case NPV(10) of US$627 million 1 
(#_ftn1) , an average EBITDA operating margin of 75% and a payback period of
< two years. Pilot plant operations will commence in 2023, with the project
expected to reach commercial production in 2026, just five years after work
began on the project by Rainbow. More information on the company is available
at www.rainbowrareearths.com (http://www.rainbowrareearths.com/) .

 

 1  (#_ftnref1) Net present value using a 10% forward discount rate

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