20 September 2021
Vital Metals Limited (ASX: VML) (“Vital Metals” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide an update on operations at its Nechalacho rare earths project in Northwest Territories, Canada, where Vital commenced bagging high-grade ore mined from Nechalacho’s North T pit.
Vital Metals’ Managing Director Geoff Atkins said mining and sorting operations at Nechalacho have continued through August with key highlights being zones of high grade ore able to be bagged directly from the crusher, without the need to be processed through the ore sorter.
“As mentioned last month, mining at North T intersected high-grade REO mineralisation in the northern edge of the pit wall which was not part of our existing North T mineral resource. Mining in this area produced a high-grade ore that did not require processing through the ore sorter – we have simply crushed and bagged it, ready for transport to Saskatoon in coming weeks,” he said.
“In addition to bagging high-grade ore, processing of medium and low-grade material through the ore sorter has continued through August. The ore sorter has continued to produce beneficiated product with production rates increasing according to plan. We expect to commence shipping approximately 1,000t of beneficiated product by the end of September. We will ship these to Saskatoon, where our rare earth extraction plant is currently under construction. The volume of material being transported to Saskatoon will be sufficient to commission and operate the Rare Earth Extraction Plant prior to further deliveries of product next northern summer.”