RareX has achieved a key milestone in the development of its Cummins Range phosphate-REE project with the completion of baseline flora and fauna environmental surveys.
With both wet and dry season surveys now completed, the company will use the results to provide guidance on environmental management plans, which are a key input to the mining approvals.
Information collected during the field surveys is now being compiled and analysed by RareX (ASX:REE), with preliminary observations consistent with expectations of floral and faunal assemblages for the project area.
Water monitoring is continuing as a full year’s worth of survey data is required.
“This is an important milestone and we’re very pleased with its progress,” chief executive officer James Durrant said.
“Our goal is to accelerate through the full baseline survey and approval process to allow for the expedited start-up of this project as a DSO phosphate project, before advancing into rare earths.”
Environmental management
The company will now complete a Scoping Study assessing a multi-staged approach, with Stage 1 focussing on a simplified rock phosphate DSO operation, whilst subsequent stages look at more capital intensive works to extract both phosphate and rare earths as a concentrate.
Results from the Scoping Study and environmental survey will be used to develop a project description with the relevant information to engage the regulator for pre-referral discussions.
The company believes that by focusing on the above water table portion of the resource, demonstrating a relatively low impact project and by developing robust environmental and cultural management plans, it can secure approvals through the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) at State level.
Submissions for environmental approval are expected to be lodged before the end of 2023 .
This article was developed in collaboration with RareX, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.