Montréal, Québec, December 16, 2019 – Torngat Metals announced today that MICON International, a leading mineral consulting firm, has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the Strange Lake rare earth project in Québec.
“The completion of our PEA marks a turning point in the advancement of the Strange Lake project.” Dr. Dirk Naumann, Torngat’s CEO said. “Micon used a significantly more detailed geological model developed over four years. Selective mining and ore sorting have also been integrated into the plan, which in addition to improving processing parameters, advances our goal of minimizing the environmental footprint of our operations. We continue to work closely with all the Indigenous communities and companies where we will operate, and we will share our progress and work to expand economic and social opportunities.”
Strange Lake in the Nunavik region of Québec is long known as one of the world’s largest proven rare earth deposits that contains both light and heavy types of rare earths. Torngat aims to achieve production of separated rare earth oxides by 2023 with a focus on rare earths critical for the manufacture of permanent magnets.
Torngat Metals is developing the Strange Lake deposit in Northern Quebec. Many people know that this is one of the largest rare earth deposits globally, rich in rare earths for permanent magnets including heavy rare earths. However, a common view has been that the deposit is too remote and the capital will be too high to make the project feasible. Our two breakthroughs overcome these challenges.
Breakthrough #1:
Our plan to use airships means we do not need to build a 240 km road to access the site. Working with Lockheed Martin and airship leasing companies, we have confirmed that airships will be commercially ready for our project start time and will be economically preferential to building transports roads.
Breakthrough #2:
We have confirmed that we can liberate the rare earths much more easily than originally planned. The rare earths are predominately in fine grain minerals in fractures and thus we do not have to grind the host granite.
Stay tuned for more details on these exciting developments.
"Torngat Metals commits to being a stable and sustainable long-term rare earth supplier."
Torngat is a founding member of the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) and supports its vision to "secure access to critical and strategic raw materials, advanced materials, and processing know-how for EU Industrial Ecosystems. ...Metals, minerals and advanced materials are the key enablers for a globally competitive, green, and digital Europe. ERMA contributes to ensure a reliable, secure and sustainable access to raw materials." On February 23, EC President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the vital importance of rare earths.