Western Rare Earths is beginning development of critical minerals mining projects in Arizona and Wyoming, Kallanish reports.

The Arizona-based company is accelerating growth and development, especially of the La Paz Project in Arizona.

Its initial work program has included extensive mapping, surface sampling, metallurgical testing, additional sample drilling plus planning the mine and related processing facilities at the site in west-central Arizona. The company is also drilling deeper holes to better assess the mineral assets and expects to complete a preliminary economic analysis in the second half of 2021.

The 17 rare earth minerals are key to developing electric vehicles, renewable energy and high-tech defence equipment.

The firm, a subsidiary of American Rare Earths Limited, had acquired the property in La Paz County, Arizona, in August 2019.

An update 2020 technical report indicates that the La Paz deposit is of low grade but it is significant because of its sheer volume, simple mineralogy, lack of radioactive materials, significant amounts of scandium, favourable preliminary metallurgical work and location. Deposit limits have not yet been defined laterally or at depth, it says.

The company is planning a separate operation to mine scandium, which can alloy with aluminum to reduce the weight of vehicles or airplane frames by as much as 30%. That would significantly boost the value of the overall La Paz project, it says.

The company is also working to expand mineralisation associated with the project to a reserve category in order to boost development, it says.

The project has claim control of more than 5,100 acres yet the current defined resource site sits within 525 of those acres. That leaves room to expand operations, the company says. Grant money from the Department of Energy may also be available to the domestic supply chain as the US tries to boost rare earth minerals that are now dominated by China, it notes.

“We are energised to develop the La Paz Project further, along with our Wyoming project,” says ceo Marty Weems in a statement. “We continue good progress with an upcoming drilling campaign and several high-efficiency processing paths to explore under the guidance of world-class technical experts. There is plenty of work to do and high-priority opportunities upon which we are laser-focused to execute.”

The La Paz deposits were discovered in mid-2010 during exploratory sampling. The Wyoming rare earths project is near Laramie, Wyoming. It was acquired last August.