REE Minerals planning additional drilling
REE Minerals is preparing for an in-fill drilling program. Its aim is to produce an estimate of rare earth elements at the Fen field at the “indicated resources” confidence level. The plan is based on the increasing public momentum supporting the development of the Fen field.
In October 2023, REE Minerals, as the first exploration company, published a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Fen rare earth project.
The MRE was compiled by SRK Consulting in collaboration with 21st NORTH in accordance with the internationally recognized CIM standards and included 95 million tons with an average grade of 1.3 percent total rare earth oxide (TREO). The MRE only covers a portion of REE Minerals’ license area, meaning that the resources can extend beyond the drilled area and be significantly larger.
The MRE showed that the content of the economically important rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium, which are the prime constituents in magnets used for the green transition, accounts for 21 weight percent of the total rare earth contribution. This is higher than reported elsewhere from the Fen carbonatite.
The MRE is classified as being a so-called “inferred” confidence category, which typically is the starting point for any resource estimate and provides good statistical certainty that the estimated resources are in line with what is physically present in the ground.
Preparing for feasibility study
“In order to advance to higher confidence classifications, which is necessary to produce a feasibility study on the project and to obtain bankable feasibility, additional drilling is required, and that is why we have planned for this upcoming in-fill program. This will be an important step for the company and for the development of the Fen field,” says Johannes Nævdal, chairman of the board of REE Minerals.
The in-fill drilling is carried out to reduce the distance between individual holes and thereby increase the statistical confidence in the resource. Together with SRK Consulting and 21st NORTH, REE Minerals has therefore conducted a drill hole spacing analysis, to prepare an in-fill drilling program for the Fen project and advance the resource to the “indicated” confidence category.
An initial drilling programme has been planned by SRK and includes approximately 10,000 meters of in-fill drilling.
Increasing public momentum
“The plan is based on what we see as steadily increasing political and public support on two levels. On the national level, there is broad agreement on the need to lessen Western countries’ current dependence on China for critical rare earth elements, as witnessed by the Norwegian parliament’s recent request for the government to promote the Fen field as a strategically important project within the US-backed Mineral Security Partnership,” Mr. Nævdal says, adding:
“On the local level, we are encouraged by the supportive approach taken by Nome municipality, as illustrated by the recent agreement on the zoning process for processing facilities and tailings.”