Rare Element Resources
Bear Lodge Project
Canadian NI 43-101 Technical Report
October 9
th
, 2014
10135-200-46 – Rev. 0
1-2
procedures. The NRC will assess the environmental impacts of the
Hydrometplant/TSF under their NEPA requirements.
Roche recommends that Rare Element proceed with a program to prepare a
definitive feasibility study. This preparation should include additional investigations
within the mine, the PUG and the Hydromet areas of the Bear Lodge Project. In
addition, the company should continue to explore the development of individual
element separation technology.
Table 1.1 - Bear Lodge Financial Summary and Operating Metrics (US$ Million)
PFS Key Metrics
Initial capital costs (M)
$290
Life-of-mine (LOM) capital costs (M)*
$453
Payback period
2.9 years
Pre-tax / After-tax IRR
32.7% / 28.6%
Pre-tax / After-tax NPV at 10% discount rate (M)
$426 / $330
Mine life / Project life
38 years / 45 years
Low-grade stockpile processing
Years 39-45
Assumed discounted basket price/kg
$24.60
Operating Metrics
High Grade
Processing
Years 1 - 9
LOM
Average**
Average annual mining rate (M tons/M tonnes)
3.72 / 3.37
3.72 / 3.38
Annual production TREO (tons/tonnes)
8,523 / 7,732
7,510 / 6,813
Mining average grade, % TREO
4.7%
2.8%
Strip ratio (waste to ore)
8.0:1
8.7:1
Physical Upgrade (PUG) Plant recovery rate
92.8%
87.9%
Hydrometallurgical recovery rate
88.3%
89.9%
Overall recovery rate
81.9%
79.0%
Operating cost per ton processed
$413.32
$296.93
Operating cost per kg TREO
$11.75
$15.05
Average annual operating cash flow (after-tax) (M)***
$84.5
$52.4
* Including expansion and sustaining capital
** LOM includes 7 years of low-grade stockpile processing
*** During production years
(Roche, 2014)
