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

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• Drill additional drill holes at appropriate angles to assess the nature and significance of the sub-vertical structures since these features may have an effect on the grade distribution and continuity, both of which may affect mining. Mining The authors make the following recommendations: • Revise the mine plan, and develop a new estimate of the mineral reserves based on this mineral resource estimate. • Complete a revision of the economics of the deposit recognising the potential for a larger and higher grade Mineral Reserve. • Proceed to a full Project Feasibility Study. • The recommended budget is given below in Table 20-1. Table 1-2 Project Advancement Budget Avalon Rare Metals Inc. – Thor Lake Project Item Cost (C$ millions) Exploration/Upgrade Drilling and Geology 19.5 Metallurgical Testwork 5.0 Technical Studies and Support 4.0 Environmental Work 2.0 Sales and Marketing 1.5 Administration 11.5 Total 43.5 Technical Report 43-101 – March 13, 2011 Page 1-9 Prepared by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.
2. INTRODUCTION This <strong>report</strong> was prepared for disclosure of the results of the updated Mineral Resource estimate completed by Avalon geologists for the Nechalcaho deposit, Thor Lake project, Northwest Territories, Canada. The mineral resources and mineral reserves stated in this <strong>report</strong> have been estimated in accordance with the Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Form 43- 101F1 and Companion Policy 43-101CP dated December 23, 2005. Avalon is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with a primary focus on the rare metals and minerals, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Avalon trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the NYSE AMEX under the symbol AVL. Starting in 1976, the TLP has been explored by a number of companies for REEs, Niobium and Tantalum. In May 2005, Avalon purchased from Beta Minerals Inc. a 100% interest and full title, subject to royalties, to the Thor Lake property. Wardrop completed a Preliminary Assessment of the Project in 2006. A PFS commenced in 2009 led by Scott Wilson RPA, which covered a review of the most recent Resource Estimate, mine design, design of concentrator and hydrometallurgical plant, cost estimation and economic analysis. The Project comprises: • An undeveloped Rare Earths and Rare Metals deposit • An exploration camp, with facilities suitable for summer and winter diamond drill programs • 12 million tonnes of Mineral Reserves of REEs, Zirconium, Niobium and Tantalum • Potential development of an underground mining operation with an 18 year mine life at 730,000 tpa. • Significant additional Mineral Resources extending laterally within and beyond the Mineral Reserves. The PFS assumes that the ore will be concentrated at Thor Lake and barged across the Great Slave Lake (GSL) to Pine Point for hydrometallurgical processing. The two sites are shown in Figure 2-2. Technical Report 43-101 – March 13, 2011 Page 2-1 Prepared by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.
Page 1 and 2: TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE NECHALACHO
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. SUMMARY ......
Page 5 and 6: QUALITY ASSURANCE / QUALITY CONTROL
Page 7 and 8: Warehouse..........................
Page 9 and 10: LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1 Summary of
Page 11 and 12: Table 18-9 Mine Ventilation Quantit
Page 13 and 14: Table 18-54 Table 18-55 Pine Point
Page 15 and 16: LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A Block
Page 17 and 18: Table 1-1 Summary of Mineral Resour
Page 19 and 20: Royalties. The net revenue generate
Page 21 and 22: • The products will be shipped in
Page 23: • Income taxes and NWT mining roy
Page 27 and 28: Figure 2-2 Project Sites, Thor Lake
Page 29 and 30: Table 2-1 Rare Earth Element Data A
Page 31 and 32: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Units of meas
Page 33 and 34: 4. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION AND LOCATIO
Page 35 and 36: The mining leases have a 21-year li
Page 37 and 38: 5. ACCESSIBILITY, CLIMATE, LOCAL RE
Page 39 and 40: Fort Resolution is located on the s
Page 41 and 42: producing a tantalum concentrate, b
Page 43 and 44: Figure 7-2 Detailed Deposit Geology
Page 45 and 46: The nepheline-sodalite syenite host
Page 47 and 48: LATE TECTONIC FAULTS Faults are pre
Page 49 and 50: 8. DEPOSIT TYPES The mineral deposi
Page 51 and 52: The Ore (Nechalacho) Nepheline Soda
Page 53 and 54: from section to section - this may
Page 55 and 56: Table 9-1 Average Percent of Ore Mi
Page 57 and 58: The Nechalacho deposit alteration s
Page 59 and 60: 11. DRILLING Since 1977, diamond dr
Page 61 and 62: Foraco drill rig was added in Febru
Page 63 and 64: CORE LOGGING AND CORE RECOVERY The
Page 65 and 66: A high R 2 (and all regressions had
Page 67 and 68: 12. SAMPLING METHOD AND APPROACH A
Page 69 and 70: such as Illimausaq in Greenland, a
Page 71 and 72: 13. SAMPLE PREPARATION, ANALYSES AN
Page 73 and 74: limited set of elements; however, s
Page 75 and 76:
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
Page 87 and 88:
In a typical test, for example CCr-
Page 89 and 90:
17. MINERAL RESOURCE AND MINERAL RE
Page 91 and 92:
9. TREO equivalent is estimated by
Page 93 and 94:
Table 17-4 Sample Information Avalo
Page 95 and 96:
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
Page 109 and 110:
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
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grades were based upon the grades w
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Figure 18-1 Thor Lake Site Layout T
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Scott Wilson RPA recommends the use
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During discussions with the mine de
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Figure 18-4 Mine Layout Some of the
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Figure 18-5 Mine Development Schema
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Table 18-2 Development Tonnage Brea
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Until the crusher is in place and t
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Lateral Development The access decl
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Equipment will be selected based up
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Table 18-6 Estimated Electrical Loa
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VENTILATION The mine ventilation is
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for closing unused areas and for ch
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Mine Fan Horse Power Using the same
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Paste Fill System A paste fill syst
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Communications Mine communications
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completion of the 30 m to 50 m long
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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
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Figure 18-9 Hydrometallurgical Plan
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The Pine Point hydrometallurgical f
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Decant pipeworks have been included
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• Development of pre-feasibility
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Design Basis The pre-feasibility le
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non-woven geotextile) to prevent da
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divert surface drainage away from r
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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
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• Together with the unloading log
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it will be necessary to upgrade the
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Table 18-16 Hydrometallurgical Plan
Page 185 and 186:
Table 18-17 Surface Mobile Equipmen
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Rare Earth FOB China* FOB China** P
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• loparite and eudialyte in alkal
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Table 18-18 Rare Earth supply - 200
Page 193 and 194:
Table 18-20 Rare Earth Demand by Ap
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Table 18-22 Proposed New REO Projec
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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
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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
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seven) have occurred more frequentl
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elative to uranium, the overall eff
Page 217 and 218:
interviews conducted for the nearby
Page 219 and 220:
Wildlife Early science-based wildli
Page 221 and 222:
Other environmental permits/approva
Page 223 and 224:
TAXES The NWT diesel tax has been i
Page 225 and 226:
Table 18-31 Mine Capital Cost Estim
Page 227 and 228:
Table 18-33 Surface Infrastructure
Page 229 and 230:
Table 18-36 Indirect Cost Estimate
Page 231 and 232:
Table 18-37 Contingency Allowance A
Page 233 and 234:
Operating Cost Exclusions The opera
Page 235 and 236:
Table 18-40 Underground Mine Cost S
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Table 18-41 Mine Cost Details Avalo
Page 239 and 240:
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
Page 247 and 248:
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
Page 259 and 260:
20. RECOMMENDATIONS The authors of
Page 261 and 262:
21. REFERENCES BCC Research (2009):
Page 263 and 264:
MDN Inc (2010): News Release Melvil
Page 265 and 266:
Wardrop Engineering Inc. (2009): Th
Page 267 and 268:
23. CERTIFICATES OF QUALIFIED PERSO
Page 269 and 270:
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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Page 277 and 278:
Page 279 and 280:
Technical Report 43-101 - March 13,
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