TIDMRBW
RNS Number : 2016M
Rainbow Rare Earths Limited
20 September 2021
Rainbow Rare Earths Limited
("Rainbow" or the "Company")
(LSE: RBW)
20 September 2021
Rainbow Enters Into Exclusive Rare Earths Separation Technology
Agreement
Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd announces that the Company has entered
into an exclusive intellectual property licencing agreement (the
"Agreement") with K-Technologies, Inc. ("K-Tech") located in
Lakeland, Florida, USA, to use its rare earths separation
technology (the "Technology") in the Southern African Development
Community ("SADC") region[1].
Highlights of the Technology:
-- K-Tech has developed a continuous ion exchange and continuous
ion chromatography intellectual property ("IP"), suitable for use
in the downstream separation of rare earth elements into separated
rare earth oxides or carbonates in phosphogypsum applications, such
as at the Company's Phalaborwa asset in South Africa.
-- The K-Tech process achieves the separation of rare earth
oxides in fewer stages with greater flexibility leading to
significant capital and operating expenditure savings compared to
traditional technology, which uses numerous solvent extraction
("SX") steps to achieve the same results.
-- Apart from the economic benefits, the process eliminates the
use of the toxic and highly flammable solvents and diluents
required for SX with significant environmental and safety
advantages for the project.
-- The Technology has undergone successful bench and pilot plant
scale testing in rare earth separations from leach solutions and
has been successfully applied in commercial applications in a
number of different industries including the sugar, lysine, base
metals, potassium, and phosphate chemicals industries, as well as
various biological and specialty chemical applications.
-- The Technology targets individual rare earths in solution and
therefore the requirement to separate a full spectrum of rare earth
oxides is removed, creating substantial efficiencies in a
processing circuit.
In the case of Phalaborwa, K-Tech would be capable of developing
the IP to target the specific rare earth oxides of value within the
asset's gypsum stacks, namely Neodymium and Praseodymium ("Nd/Pr"),
Dysprosium ("Dy") and Terbium ("Tb"), which together account for
virtually all of the value of the basket. This would generate cost
savings and simplify the overall separation process, allowing
Rainbow to realise a higher value from the separated rare earth
products compared to the sale of a mixed rare earth carbonate as
originally envisaged at Phalaborwa.
Key points from the Agreement:
-- Rainbow has secured the exclusive IP licensing rights to the
Technology for use on the separation of rare earth elements from
phosphogypsum opportunities across the SADC region in Africa for an
initial period of four years.
-- The IP rights, if deployed as envisaged at Phalaborwa and any
other phosphogypsum projects, would remain in place for the life of
each project.
-- Rainbow is not required to make an upfront payment for the
Technology. A licencing fee of up to US$5.5 million will be paid
for each project at which the Technology is deployed as part of the
construction capital.
George Bennett, CEO, commented: "We believe that this Agreement
provides Rainbow with a significant competitive advantage and that
the IP is ideally suited to our Phalaborwa Project, where it would
enable us to focus on the separation of only the most valuable rare
earth oxides within the basket - Nd/Pr, Dy and Tb, which are all
critical building blocks for the green revolution.
If the results of a successful Preliminary Economic Assessment
currently underway at Phalaborwa are achieved using this proven
separation technology, the IP will bring considerable benefits. In
addition to the anticipated capex and opex savings, when compared
to a traditional separation circuit, the IP will enable Rainbow to
participate efficiently in the downstream separation process,
allowing us to capture the full rare earth oxide price for our
material.
We are also excited to be in a position to utilise the
Technology to secure an interest in other rare earth phosphogypsum
opportunities in the region, where we believe tremendous value can
be unlocked."
Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR") Disclosure
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it
forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with
the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
**ENDS**
For further information, please contact
Rainbow Rare George Bennett
Earths Ltd Company Pete Gardner +27 82 652 8526
SP Angel Corporate Ewan Leggat
Finance LLP Broker Charlie Bouverat +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
--------- ------------------- --------------------------------------
Flagstaff Strategic Tim Thompson +44 (0) 207 129 1474
and Investor Fergus Mellon rainbowrareearths@flagstaffcomms.com
Communications
------------------ --------------------------------------
Notes to Editors:
Rainbow's strategy is to become a globally-significant producer
of rare earth metals. Nd/Pr are vital components of the strongest
permanent magnets used for the motors and turbines driving the
green technology revolution. Analysts are predicting demand for
magnet rare earth oxides will grow substantially over the coming
years, driven by increasing adoption of green technology, pushing
the overall market for Nd/Pr into deficit.
The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project, located in South Africa,
comprises an Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 38.3Mt at 0.43%
TREO contained within gypsum tailings stacked in unconsolidated
dumps derived from historic phosphate hard rock mining. High value
Nd/Pr oxide represent 29.1% of the total contained rare earth
oxides, with economic Dysprosium and Terbium oxide credits
enhancing the overall value of the rare earth basket contained in
the stacks. The rare earths are contained in chemical form in the
gypsum dumps, which is expected to deliver a higher-value rare
earth carbonate, with lower operating costs than a typical rare
earth mineral project.
The Company's Gakara Project in Burundi has produced one of the
highest-grade concentrates in the world (typically 54% total rare
earths oxides ("TREO")) through trial mining operations. The Gakara
basket is weighted heavily towards Nd/Pr, which account for over
approximately 19.5% of the contained TREO and 85% of the value of
the concentrate.
[1] Member states comprise: Angola, Botswana, Comoros,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa,
United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
AGRSFDFIWEFSEFU
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 20, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Rainbow Rare Earths (LSE:RBW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Rainbow Rare Earths (LSE:RBW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
