GWG Megatrend Rare Earth - Seltene Erden ( Seite 552)

http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/28343/minin…

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Finishing up the presentations was Jim Engdahl, president and CEO of Great Western Minerals Group (GWMG), who believes that GWMG is on track to become one of the leading, fully integrated rare earth producers.
Saskatoon-based GWMG focuses on three core components within its integrated supply chain strategy - alloy processing, mining and exploration. Indeed, the company combines upstream resource exploration and extraction at its Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa with downstream metals processing facilities in the US and UK. Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and aerospace industries.
Engdahl says that the Steenkampskraal mine is a unique project with significant potential, as it holds nuclear authorization for the handling of radioactive material, including the storage of thorium.
GWMG’s Steenkampskraal mine is located approximately 70 kilometres north of the town of Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, and approximately 350 kilometres north of Cape Town.
In the course of putting the Steenkampskraal mine into production, GMWG has been engaged in remediation of the mine site, cleaning up contamination left from the period when Steenkampskraal was operated as a monazite mining operation, producing monazite concentrate which was then shipped elsewhere - mainly for thorium recovery.
The company's mining plan at Steenkampskraal includes working with a joint venture partner that will provide technology and expertise in the design, construction and operation of separation facilities.
It plans to complete the separation of the 15 rare earth elements present into oxides at Steenkampskraal, and then ship selected oxides to its own processing subsidiaries Great Western Technologies (GWT) and Less Common Metals (LCM).
Engdahl says that GWMG expects a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) by September, "with grades as high as 40 percent."
"We hope to complete and release the N143-101 in the next two weeks," he says.
"We have also completed the joint venture [agreement] for the extraction plant," says Engdahl, adding that final plant design is expected in May.
The rare earth company, which eventually plans to be its own supplier as well as creating a "supply certainty" for global customers, has several operational targets, including the construction of a mixed chloride plant and separation plant near Steenkampskraal in the first half of 2013.
UK-based LCM, acquired in 2008, serves some of the world's largest magnet manufacturers, many of whom in turn, supply the world's largest automobile manufacturers.
As GWMG is intent on the development of metal-making capacity and facilities, Engdahl says the company plans to expand LCM’s alloy production capacity by 100 percent in 2012 and then, based on industry demand, continue expansion.
"Once the facility in England is up and running we expect an annual production of 33 to 35 tonnes of alloy per year," he says.
"It’s a small project that’s going to generate significant cash."
GWMG’s alloy processing facility in Michigan, which was purchased in 2006, is a strategic asset for revitalization and is "not a money maker yet", adds Engdahl.
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