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New study values Texas Mineral-USA Rare Earth's Round Top project at US$1.56B

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New study values Texas Mineral-USA Rare Earth's Round Top project at US$1.56B

An updated preliminary economic assessment of the Round Top rare earths project in Texas outlined a pretax net present value of US$1.56 billion, at a 10% discount rate, with a 70% internal rate of return and a 1.4-year payback period.

A 2013 preliminary economic assessment estimated a net present value of US$1.47 billion, with a 69% internal rate of return and a 1.5-year payback period.

USA Rare Earth LLC, a privately held investment group based in the U.S. and Australia, can earn an 80% interest in the project from Texas Mineral Resources Corp. under a November 2018 deal.

The companies said Aug. 20 that initial capital costs increased to US$350.4 million, compared to US$292.7 million defined in the previous study, while sustaining capital costs over the life of mine decreased to US$252 million from US$553 million.

Texas Mineral Chairman Anthony Marchese said work on a pre-feasibility study will start shortly, followed by a bankable feasibility study.

Round Top is expected to produce 2,212 tonnes of rare earth oxides per year over a 20-year mine life, with a mining rate of 20,000 tonnes per day. The new preliminary economic assessment was based on a resource estimate completed in 2012 which was updated with the study.

The updated resource estimate includes a new lithium resource, which is expected to produce 8,956 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate.

Measured and indicated resources total 364,000 tonnes while inferred resources were estimated at 735,000 tonnes, comprising a combination of rare earth minerals, technology metals and industrial minerals.