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Auxico Resources Plans to Build Rare Earth Refinery in the Santa Marta Free-Trade Zone in Colombia
MONTREAL, Nov. 29, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) is pleased to announce that the Company plans to build a 10,000 square metre rar
About this update from Auxico Resources Canada, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" MONTREAL, Nov. 29, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) is pleased to announce that the Company plans to build a 10,000 square metre rare earth refining facility in the free-trade zone in the city of Santa Marta, Colombia, capable of processing 36,000 tonnes of ore per year. The Company signed a lease agreement with an option to purchase four lots of land within the Zona Franca Tayrona industrial park. The estimated Capex for the refinery is US$116.2 million. The rare earth refinery, the first of its kind in the western hemisphere, will incorporate standard metallurgical processes with innovative extraction technologies, resulting in lower energy consumption, significantly shorter and cost-effective processing cycles, and an overall lower environmental impact. The concentrates of rare earths will be sourced from the properties the Company is currently developing in Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Additional concentrates will be sourced from properties in Brazil and Bolivia, for which the Company is finalizing supply agreements. Over the last 12 months, Auxico has completed a series of metallurgical tests using the ultrasound assisted extraction process (\"UAEx\") for mineral extraction, for which the Company signed a technology license agreement earlier this year. The tests showed that the UAEx process is very efficient on high-value rare earth samples, achieving 80%+ recoveries of selected rare earth elements over a two-hour long leaching time. Element Symbol Brazil Grade (%) DR Congo Grade (%) Colombia Grade (%) Bolivia Grade (%) Average Recovery (%) Cerium CeO2 35.90 31.61 31.09 20.86 85.72 Dysprosium Dy2O3 0.28 0.09 0.72 0.49 86.63 Gadolinium Gd2O3 0.17 0.73 0.75 4.68 87.47 Lanthanum La2O3 15.17 9.41 9.40 5.49 85.41 Neodymium Nd2O3 9.04 12.34 9.49 10.77 84.74 Praseodymium Pr6O11 0.89 2.58 2.44 1.57 85.94 Samarium Sm2O3 0.90 1.99 1.81 8.66 86.02 Yttrium Y2O3 1.14 0.49 0.50 1.63 76.26 Total RE (%) 63.49 59.24 56.20 54.15 The UAEx process is a sustainable metallurgical process for the refining of critical minerals using ultrasound technology. The laboratory results demonstrat...