Preliminary Public Dose Evaluation in Support of the Development of
November , 2012
Rare Element Resources, Inc. Bear Lodge Project
9
SECTION 2
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
As planned, the BLP consists of three principal components (RER, 2012a):
•
An open-pit mine operation at Bull Hill (includes Bull Hill and Whitetail deposits) and
associated support facilities.
•
A PUG for mineral pre-concentration adjacent to the mine.
•
A Hydromet plant for recovery of REE’s from the pre-concentrate to form an RE
carbonate concentrate product in Upton.
The proposed process flow diagrams for the PUG and Hydromet are shown in Figure 2.1
2.1
Bull Hill Mine
The BHM is intended to be a typical truck and shovel open pit mining operation that will extract
near-surface, REE ores. Currently, the expected life of the mine is 19 years (y). The maximum
mining rate to meet expected ore production is 28,000 tons per day (t d
-1
; RER, 2012a). This
mining rate is required for initial start-up and includes pre-stripping of any overburden material.
The mining rate will decrease in the first year of ore production and over the mine life. The
mining schedule is designed to produce 1,000 t d
-1
of high grade oxide or oxide-carbonate
(OXCA) ore. A more detailed description of the mine design and production schedule can be
found in
Technical Report on the Mineral Reserves and Development of the Bull Hill Mine
(RER, 2012a).
2.2
Physical Upgrade Plant
The PUG process uses an iterative series of crushing, attrition, washing and screening methods to
concentrate the REE fines and reduce the overall physical mass of material to be further
processed. The PUG is designed to process 1,000 t d
-1
of high grade oxide or 1,000 t d
-1
of
OXCA and stockwork ores. These product streams combined will produce 188 t d
-1
of REE pre-
concentrate that will be transported via truck to the Hydromet plant. The pre-concentrate will
have REE and moisture contents of 14 and 10 percent by weight, respectively (RER, 2012a).
Flocculent will be used to increase the separation efficiency of solid particles from the water.
The process will require an estimated 72 pounds (lb) d
-1
of flocculent, which may change
depending on the production rate.
