According to a report by MiningNews.net, Brazilian Critical Minerals (BCM) is advancing the construction of its Ema rare-earth mine in Amazonas state.

The scope of the preliminary development study for the first phase of this project covers only 14% of the total area of the Emma rare-earth mine. The ore reserves amount to 350 million tons, with a total rare-earth oxide (TREO) grade of 0.0778%. Meanwhile, the total ore reserves for the entire Emma project exceed 1 billion tons; thus, the resource volume for the first-phase development represents just one-third of the total resource volume.

The preliminary study for this in-situ leaching project will be completed later this quarter.

The company stated that the project is technically feasible and the product can adapt to fluctuations in rare-earth prices.

This project uses magnesium-containing reagents for leaching, thereby avoiding the use of ammonia to recover rare earth elements from ion-exchange clays.

The company believes that Emma could become “the world’s most environmentally friendly and lowest-cost rare-earth mine.”

In-situ recovery (ISR) projects account for about 30% of global rare-earth production and are much easier to carry out than conventional clay mining.

After completing the preliminary study, BCM Company plans to conduct field permeability tests to reduce production risks; the results will be used in the feasibility study.

The beneficiation and metallurgical tests completed in November showed that it is possible to produce a mixed rare-earth carbonate with a TREO grade of 55.3%, containing approximately 38% heavy rare earths and low impurity levels. The recovery rate for praseodymium and neodymium is about 68%.