Globally, most rare earths are sourced from hard-rock mines. These typically require large, costly processing plants and a significant lead time to reach production. A less common source of rare earths is ionic adsorption clay (IAC) deposits, which have historically been mined only in southern China. A major advantage of IAC deposits is that the rare earths can be extracted from the clay via a low-cost desorption process. Secondly, they often exist at shallow depth. These advantages enable a project to be developed rapidly and at lower cost. Furthermore, IAC deposits typically contain a higher proportion of heavy rare earths compared to hard rock deposits, and low concentrations of radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium. ABx is the first company to discover rare earths in Tasmania and has reported a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 21 million tonnes at its Deep Leads / Rubble Mound project. ABx engaged Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to conduct desorption tests, which found the highest extractions under relatively neutral conditions reported from any clay-hosted project in Australia. This proves the mineralisation to be of the IAC variety. Low-cost processing is crucial for clay-hosted rare earth deposits, and industry processing experts indicate that low-cost processing can only be achieved using desorption with low acid consumption. Additionally, the rare earths in the Deep Leads / Rubble Mound resource have the highest proportion of DyTb (4.2 per cent of TREO) of any clay-hosted rare earths resource in Australia. These factors put ABx at the forefront for investors and countries seeking to diversify rare earths supply. Following these excellent discovery and processing results, ABx has built significant momentum and will continue to conduct further exploration, which will include targeting new areas within its tenements that have geological features considered prospective for additional rare earths. The ABx strategy is to produce a mixed rare earth carbonate that can be sold to existing refineries to increase their production. The ABx carbonate will be high in heavy rare earths and low in radioactive elements, which is expected to be attractive to many prospective customers. Market discussions with several potential customers endorse this strategy.
