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ASX BRIEFS
BRAZILIAN CRITICAL MINERALS LTD (BCM) - The Future of Rare Earths: Inside the Ema Rare Earths Project
Dive into the world of rare earth elements with our engaging discussion featuring Andrew Reid, Managing Director of Brazilian Critical Minerals. This episode delves into the remarkable 97% increase in indicated mineral resources at the Ema Rare Earth Elements project in Brazil, one of the most exciting developments in the sector. Join us as Andrew walks us through the significance of this achievement and its positive implications for the company and its investors.
Discover how BCM's innovative in-situ recovery method is not only transforming traditional mining practices but also ensuring an environmentally sustainable approach. With the use of eco-friendly magnesium sulfate, Andrew introduces us to the future of green mining that promises minimal environmental impact and high recovery rates. We'll also explore how the Ema project mirrors successful rare earth deposits from global market leaders, giving BCM a competitive edge amid growing demand.
Effective logistics play a crucial role in BCM’s strategy, and Andrew provides insights into their streamlined processes from the mine site to processing facilities. This operational efficiency is pivotal for maintaining cost competitiveness within the global rare earth supply chain.
Andrew Musgrave Host
Welcome back to another episode of ASX Briefs, where we bring you the latest insights from ASX-listed companies. And today we welcome back Andrew Reid, the Managing Director of Brazilian Critical Minerals, a leading mineral exploration company focused on the development of its Ema Rare Earth Elements project in Brazil. The company has made remarkable progress with a recent 97% increase in indicated mineral resources at the Ema project and positions the company as a major player in the growing global rare earth supply chain. Andrew, thanks for joining me again and welcome back to the ASX Briefs podcast.
Andrew Reid Guest
Thank you very much for the invitation, Andrew.
Andrew Musgrave Host
Now there's been plenty going on, so it's been a while since we last spoke, and BCM recently increased its indicated mineral resource by 97%, so can you walk us through the significance of the milestone for the company and for its investors?
Andrew Reid Guest
Yeah, we put out an updated MRE a week and a half ago a week and a half ago that was really the culmination of all of the drill results that we just received from our 2024 drilling program, where we drilled close to 250 holes, and the good news is that just about every single hole that we drilled hit mineralization of some form and, as a result of that, really generated quite a bumper increase in the amount of indicated tonnes that we've got at Emma. And I think, more significantly, those indicated tonnes then became, or have become, really the real bedrock foundation for our scoping study, which has about 73% indicated tonnes in it and the really exciting CAPEX and OPEX numbers that we've been able to generate as a result of that MRE. So, yes, it really led to some quite exciting things for the company.
Andrew Musgrave Host
And just touching on that, yesterday you put out the announcement around the OPEX and the CAPEX, so can you just talk us through that in a little bit more detail.
Andrew Reid Guest
We've been working, andrew, since really the middle of last year on a scoping study Around. That time we started to really hone our thoughts around the prospects of doing an in-situ recovery project on Ema because of its unique physical, chemical and geological aspects of the ore zone or the mineralization, and we thought that ISR was a particularly good fit. Uh, and it had and it does have, very, very large and significant benefits over traditional mining, where you don't need open pits and tailings dams, you don't need large labour forces to run big mining fleets and, importantly then, you don't need to really to disturb the land or go and reclaim the land post the mining phase. So, all of that cost structure with ISR is almost 100 eliminated because we're doing chemical mining where we are injecting a, a reagent that we call magnesium sulphate.
Your listeners will know that as Epsom salts, the stuff that you put in the bath to relax your muscles. It's a very green reagent, environmentally friendly. Magnesium is really needed in the soil structure. Plants take it up readily because it promotes photosynthesis through their own structure. So, it actually makes plants actually more greener, and we got really good recovery results through that phase of testing how we're going to use magnesium sulphate on rare earths. And all of that then led us to then really saying yes, ISR is the way to go, and the magnesium sulphate has really given us, on top of all the other benefits of ISR, huge ESG compliance in the fact that we don't need the open pits and tailings and those sort of things that I just mentioned. So, we think that we've developed a project now that has the lowest CAPEX and the lowest OPEX of any rare earth project that I've certainly seen in my rare earth time, and I've assessed most projects in the last eight years or so. So, we're very excited about what we've got.
Andrew Musgrave Host
Okay, and the company has been very vocal about the Ema deposit and how it mirrors China's ionic clay, rare earth deposits. So, can you elaborate on this comparison and why it positions BCM uniquely in the market?
Andrew Reid Guest
Yeah, the key attributes for us. If I start at the physical stage, the topography that you have at Ema is similar to what you get in China and other South Asian countries where it's quite highly undulating. You need that because what we're actually doing is using natural gravity to feed the solution through the ozone, so we're not pumping any solution around through the project area. The Ema clay zone itself has a very high percentage of quartz in it nearly 50 percent and that allows solutions, whether it be reagents or water, to be able to permeate. It's got quite high porosity and that's one of the key strengths to allow the permeability, to allow us to pump the magnesium sulphate through the ground and collect it laden with the rare earths. As a result of that, we are able to leach the rare earths really quickly, put it into solution and then pump it to a nearby surface processing facility.
Andrew Musgrave Host
And the company has recently achieved high purity 98% mixed rare earth carbonate product with a 38% magnet rare earth elements composition, so how does this enhance the commercial value of BCM's product compared to your competitors?
Andrew Reid Guest
Those numbers that you just mentioned are hugely valuable for us and certainly makes our project viable. If you don't have a high percentage of magnets in your rare earth basket, it is very, very difficult to generate any meaningful revenue numbers from your project, so they are really, really important. The impurity numbers are also critical for when you're trying to go down through your downstream leaching stage, whether it's the impurity removal or the precipitation of the rare earths to form your final product. The more impurities you've got, the more costs you have to exude to get to a final product. To have a two percent impurity level is pretty good, um. You know there are some projects that are slightly better, but two percent is really in a very good comfort zone level for us and certainly contributed to the very low OPEX numbers of $6.15 US per kilo of TREO that we were able to achieve.
Andrew Musgrave Host
And just looking at the logistics of it all, the company has identified a logistics route from the Ema project to the port of Chibatao, enabling Panamax-sized vessels access. So, what are the key advantages of this logistic setup in terms of cost and efficiency?
Andrew Reid Guest
Yeah, we actually have quite a straightforward logistics route for getting product from mine to really the next processing facility, whether that be the US, Europe or Asia. We've only got a really small trucking distance of about 130 kilometres. Once we get to those 130 kilometres it then goes on a barge which has a regular service to Chibatao, the port that you mentioned, and then that's regularly serviced. That particular port is the largest one in Latin America which is serviced regularly by those Panamax-sized vessels which can then take either 20- or 40-foot containers to our port of destination. So it's really and because we're in the northern part of Brazil, you know we've we cut down a lot of seafaring transportation route, so the total cost for transportation then become, you know, they're reasonable and they're quite attractive and they certainly help to keep out all its sustaining costs at $6.69 a kilo, which is best in class for any rare earth project.
Andrew Musgrave Host
Okay, Andrew, and just to wrap things up, what are the next steps for BCM and what are some of the key catalyst’s investors should look out for over the next 12 months?
Andrew Reid Guest
Yeah, we've got the exciting pilot trial. That's the field pilot trial that we want to complete over the next several months. We've drilled the holes already; we're just finalising the purchasable infrastructure and we're hoping to be able to test and extract rare earths directly out of the ground. So that's the big news. We are also doing parallel comparable tests for ISR at ANSTO and we expect the results back from that shortly. Kicking on with the next level of study is really quite important for us and we will now have a lot of conversations with financiers and off-takers about what we do with this project, who would like to see it, what they'd like to do with it. And you know what potential opportunities exist for BCM around starting to look at selling an MREC product into the market.
Andrew Musgrave Host
Okay, well, Andrew, it's been great to chat again today, so thanks for your time and we look forward to further updates from the company in the upcoming months.
Andrew Reid Guest
Great Thanks. Very much, Andrew. Thanks for having me.
Andrew Musgrave Host
That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs. Don't forget to subscribe and we look forward to catching you on our next episode.