technical report on the nechalacho deposit, thor lake project ...

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• Phase 2 (Ongoing) – The Phase 2 raise to the Tailings Basin should be scheduled for year four onwards. The Phase 2 raise may be completed in three sequential one metre raises to the embankment. • Water Basin – Based on preliminary water balance modelling, construction of the water basin is proposed to be completed during year one of operations. Tailings Delivery and Distribution Tailings slurry will be pumped from the proposed Hydrometallurgical Plant Site to the Tailings Basin via insulated tailings delivery pipelines located along the existing access road alignment. One pipeline will be installed for initial production while a second pipeline will be installed before year four to account for the increased throughput. Distribution pipelines will be placed around the east, south and west sides of the Tailings Basin. Tailings deposition to the basin will consist of single end-of-pipe discharge from the tailings deposition pipeline to reduce icing concerns during the winter months. During the entire operations 100% of the tailings solids will be pumped to the Tailings Basin at a slurry consistency of 20% solids by weight. Tailings discharge will be rotated between deposition locations to develop a relatively flat tailings beach sloping towards the north and maintain a supernatant pond in the northern portion of the Tailings Basin. A Polishing Pond receiving treated flows will be constructed to the north side of the Tailings Basin if monitoring and testwork indicate that it is required. Basin and Embankment Construction The Tailings Basin will be a square paddock with dimensions of approximately 1,200 m by 1,200 m. The Polishing Pond will be rectangular with dimensions of approximately 1,200 m by 300 m. Both basins will be situated on the existing historic tailings surface. It is assumed that historic borrow areas in close proximity to the Hydrometallurgical Site remain from previous Pine Point Mine Operations (EBA, 2009) could be reopened to supply granular material for the construction of the embankments if required. The existing tailings material is expected to be relatively well drained near surface. In order to keep the Hydrometallurgical tailings and process fluids separate from the historic tailings, it is proposed that the basin will be lined with a geomembrane. The geomembrane will be laid on a prepared and graded subgrade following excavation of sand and gravel cover and historic tailings for berm construction. An underdrain system consisting of a series of perforated CPT pipes surrounded in drainage gravel will be placed under the geomembrane to monitor the performance of the lined basin. The geomembrane will be covered on the upstream slopes of the containment berm with a cover layer of historic tailings followed by riprap (separated with a Technical Report 43-101 – March 13, 2011 Page 18-49 Prepared by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.
non-woven geotextile) to prevent damage from ice. The Water Basin to the north of the Tailings Basin will be lined with a geomembrane liner using the same construction techniques. The maximum height of the Tailings Basin and Polishing Pond embankments will be 10 m and 6 m, respectively. The final crest width will be 8.0 m (including 2 m allowance for pipelines) and slide slopes will be 3.0H:1V. Foundation Conditions No site investigations have been completed at this stage of the project. Operations and Monitoring Proper operations, monitoring and record keeping are a critical part of any waste or water management facility. For the HTMF, the requirements for proper operation and monitoring of the facility will be active and ongoing. Operations of the HTMF will require full-time personnel, dedicated to managing the facility. Before and during construction, an Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance (OMS) Manual will be developed for the HTMF. Tailings will be deposited from end of pipe discharge locations around the Tailings Basin. Tailings deposition will be rotated between the discharge locations to develop a flat, well draining tailings surface and maintain the supernatant pond in the northern portion of the Tailings Basin. It is recommended that a single person designated as Manager of the HTMF be responsible for the ongoing operation of the facility. Monitoring of the HTMF will provide important input for performance evaluation and refinement of operating practices. The achieved density of the tailings will be dependent on the tailings deposition practices and supernatant pond volume and it will be important to collect field information on the in situ tailings densities during the initial months of operations for comparison with the design values. This information will allow further refinement of the tailings deposition strategy and water balance model adjustments to the pond operating levels and, if necessary, refinement to ongoing design. In addition to the data collection, regular inspections of the HTMF and associated structures will be completed. Regular inspections will help identify any areas of concern that may require maintenance or more detailed evaluation. The inspection program would include detailed visual inspection of all embankments and berms, pipelines, pumps, culverts, spillways, etc. Technical Report 43-101 – March 13, 2011 Page 18-50 Prepared by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.
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TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE NECHALACHO
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. SUMMARY ......
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QUALITY ASSURANCE / QUALITY CONTROL
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Warehouse..........................
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LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1 Summary of
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Table 18-9 Mine Ventilation Quantit
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Table 18-54 Table 18-55 Pine Point
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LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A Block
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Table 1-1 Summary of Mineral Resour
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Royalties. The net revenue generate
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• The products will be shipped in
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• Income taxes and NWT mining roy
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2. INTRODUCTION This report
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Figure 2-2 Project Sites, Thor Lake
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Table 2-1 Rare Earth Element Data A
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Units of meas
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4. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION AND LOCATIO
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The mining leases have a 21-year li
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5. ACCESSIBILITY, CLIMATE, LOCAL RE
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Fort Resolution is located on the s
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producing a tantalum concentrate, b
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Figure 7-2 Detailed Deposit Geology
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The nepheline-sodalite syenite host
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LATE TECTONIC FAULTS Faults are pre
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8. DEPOSIT TYPES The mineral deposi
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The Ore (Nechalacho) Nepheline Soda
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from section to section - this may
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Table 9-1 Average Percent of Ore Mi
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The Nechalacho deposit alteration s
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11. DRILLING Since 1977, diamond dr
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Foraco drill rig was added in Febru
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CORE LOGGING AND CORE RECOVERY The
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A high R 2 (and all regressions had
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12. SAMPLING METHOD AND APPROACH A
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such as Illimausaq in Greenland, a
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13. SAMPLE PREPARATION, ANALYSES AN
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limited set of elements; however, s
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CONCLUSIONS Avalon’s conclusions
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Tb and Dy) were routinely monitored
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As part of the QA/QC program, Avalo
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Table 14-4: Comparison of Niobium,
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shows more deviation, with ALS MS81
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16. MINERAL PROCESSING AND METALLUR
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In a typical test, for example CCr-
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17. MINERAL RESOURCE AND MINERAL RE
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9. TREO equivalent is estimated by
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Table 17-4 Sample Information Avalo
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Figure 17-1 Distribution of REO Com
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Assay Statistics for Upper Zone* *
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CUT-OFF GRADE A previous public res
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underneath for SG measurement purpo
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Figure 17-4 Density Measurements AL
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was equal to 60 m by 60 m by 30 m a
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Table 17-12 Detailed Resource Break
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Table 17-13 Indicated Mineral Resou
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Figure 17-7 Outline of Area of Indi
Page 113 and 114: The recoveries estimated for the fl
Page 115 and 116: grades were based upon the grades w
Page 117 and 118: Figure 18-1 Thor Lake Site Layout T
Page 119 and 120: Scott Wilson RPA recommends the use
Page 121 and 122: During discussions with the mine de
Page 123 and 124: Figure 18-4 Mine Layout Some of the
Page 125 and 126: Figure 18-5 Mine Development Schema
Page 127 and 128: Table 18-2 Development Tonnage Brea
Page 129 and 130: Until the crusher is in place and t
Page 131 and 132: Lateral Development The access decl
Page 133 and 134: Equipment will be selected based up
Page 135 and 136: Table 18-6 Estimated Electrical Loa
Page 137 and 138: VENTILATION The mine ventilation is
Page 139 and 140: for closing unused areas and for ch
Page 141 and 142: Mine Fan Horse Power Using the same
Page 143 and 144: Paste Fill System A paste fill syst
Page 145 and 146: Communications Mine communications
Page 147 and 148: completion of the 30 m to 50 m long
Page 149 and 150: HEALTH AND SAFETY All crew will be
Page 151 and 152: The crushing plant is designed for
Page 153 and 154: Table 18-12 (Cont’d) Principal Pr
Page 155 and 156: Figure 18-9 Hydrometallurgical Plan
Page 157 and 158: The Pine Point hydrometallurgical f
Page 159 and 160: Decant pipeworks have been included
Page 161 and 162: • Development of pre-feasibility
Page 163: Design Basis The pre-feasibility le
Page 167 and 168: divert surface drainage away from r
Page 169 and 170: A high pressure (200 psi) compresse
Page 171 and 172: Fuel deliveries are assumed to be s
Page 173 and 174: Mill Supplies The key mill supplies
Page 175 and 176: Table 18-15 Surface Equipment Fleet
Page 177 and 178: Figure 18-10 Thor Lake Temporary Ba
Page 179 and 180: • Together with the unloading log
Page 181 and 182: it will be necessary to upgrade the
Page 183 and 184: Table 18-16 Hydrometallurgical Plan
Page 185 and 186: Table 18-17 Surface Mobile Equipmen
Page 187 and 188: Rare Earth FOB China* FOB China** P
Page 189 and 190: • loparite and eudialyte in alkal
Page 191 and 192: Table 18-18 Rare Earth supply - 200
Page 193 and 194: Table 18-20 Rare Earth Demand by Ap
Page 195 and 196: Table 18-22 Proposed New REO Projec
Page 197 and 198: in China. On this basis, Avalon is
Page 199 and 200: Determine Prices for Avalon’s Pro
Page 201 and 202: The balance of niobium supply is co
Page 203 and 204: epresenting about 18% of total zirc
Page 205 and 206: Table 18-25 Historic Chinese Export
Page 207 and 208: Figure 18-16 Tantalum Markets - 200
Page 209 and 210: the price for tantalum chemicals in
Page 211 and 212: Surface Hydrology The Thor Lake dra
Page 213 and 214: seven) have occurred more frequentl
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elative to uranium, the overall eff
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interviews conducted for the nearby
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Wildlife Early science-based wildli
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Other environmental permits/approva
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TAXES The NWT diesel tax has been i
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Table 18-31 Mine Capital Cost Estim
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Table 18-33 Surface Infrastructure
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Table 18-36 Indirect Cost Estimate
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Table 18-37 Contingency Allowance A
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Operating Cost Exclusions The opera
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Table 18-40 Underground Mine Cost S
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Table 18-41 Mine Cost Details Avalo
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Thor Lake Surface The Thor Lake sur
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Table 18-45 Sales and Marketing Cos
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Table 18-47 Rail Car Load Limits Av
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there will be no overhauls in the i
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Other supplies and freight will be
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Table 18-55 Hydrometallurgical Plan
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Table 18-56 Cash Flow Summary Techn
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The sensitivity of the base case 8%
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19. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
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• The Mineral Reserves, which hav
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20. RECOMMENDATIONS The authors of
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21. REFERENCES BCC Research (2009):
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MDN Inc (2010): News Release Melvil
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Wardrop Engineering Inc. (2009): Th
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23. CERTIFICATES OF QUALIFIED PERSO
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CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFIED PERSON I,
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CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFIED PERSON I,
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Section 416000 Section 416100 Secti
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Technical Report 43-101 - March 13,
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