Name of the Project
Yangibana rare earths project.

Location
Western Australia’s Gascoyne region.

Project Owner/s
The Yangibana Joint Venture (JV), a partnership between Wyloo Gascoyne (60%) and rare earths developer Hastings Technology Metals’ subsidiary Yangibana Jubilee (40%).

Project Description
Yangibana has an estimated mine life of 17 years and will be developed in two stages.

Stage 1 will be focused on the mine and beneficiation plant to produce a rare earth.

Mining operations will comprise openpit mining, including conventional drill, blast, load and haul, with an estimated ore feed of 1.1-million tonnes a year into the processing plant. The mined ore will be processed through a circuit of crushing, grinding, flotation, tailings and handling, with an output of up to 37 000 t/y of rare-earth concentrate at 27% total rare-earth oxides (TREO). 

In Stage 2, a hydrometallurgical plant will be built, which will process the concentrate from Yangibana into an intermediate product, called a mixed rare-earth carbonate, through a process of cracking, leaching, precipitation and drying.

Once completed, the plant will have an output of up to 15 000 t/y of mixed rare-earth carbonate at 59% TREO, to be shipped to Hastings’ customers for further downstream processing into neodymium/praseodymium oxides, which are then metallised and alloyed before being made into a permanent magnet. 

Potential Job Creation
The project will create more than 470 construction jobs and more than 270 operational jobs at steady-state operation.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project’s net present value, at an 8% discount rate, has increased from $549-million in the 2019 update to $1.01-billion in the 2022 update. The internal rate of return has increased from 21% to 26%. Payback is estimated at 2.7 years from the start of production.

Capital Expenditure
Total capital costs (Stage 1 and 2) as November 14, 2024, were estimated at $223-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First production is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Latest Developments
The Yangibana JV has agreed to negotiate for a potential offtake deal with North American rare-earths processing company Ucore Rare Metals.

The potential deal covers up to 37 000 t/y of Yangibana's high-grade rare-earth concentrate, while both parties assess the feasibility of building a downstream hydrometallurgy plant in Louisiana, in the US.

The parties will work towards executing a definitive agreement, which is expected to be finalised after June 2026, Hastings said in a statement on October 31.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
GM Engineering Services (engineering, procurement and construction).

Contact Details for Project Information
Hastings Technology Metals, tel +61 8 6117 6118.