The Steenkampskraal Rare Earth Element deposit

The Steenkampskraal Rare Earth Element deposit (The Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine) is a high grade monazite deposit with an NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource of 605,000 tons at an average grade of 14.36% TREO for a total of 86, 900 tons contained TREO (including Y2O3). It also has a thorium measured and indicated resource of 12000 tons thorium oxide This is an existing mine that was originally operated through a subsidiary company of Anglo American Corporation from 1952 to 1963, producing a monazite concentrate that was sold mostly for its thorium content. However, Steenkampskraal monazite was also processed in the US and elsewhere, producing the full suite of rare earth elements, including heavy rare earth products.Mineralogical investigations indicate that the vein is composed predominantly of monazite, which mineral accounts for more than 91% of total rare earth elements, with lesser amounts of REE-bearing allanite, REE-bearing xenotime, apatite and thorite. Alteration minerals are dominated by quartz, Fe-chlorite, magnetic Fe-oxide minerals, ilmenite, and sulphides, including chalcopyrite, pyrite and galena.

Beneficiation in SA would result in two separate thorium and rare earth products.

1. Mineralised intersections of vein material are composed predominantly of a cerium and lanthanum enriched monazite, but contains concentrations of all of the rare-earth elements and yttrium in consistent proportions. Grades typically are dependent on the amount of diluting materials within the vein structure such as apatite, quartz, feldspar, magnetite, and sulphides. Steenkampskraal would initially generate revenue from selling rare earths and move on to selling thorium pellets for water-cooled reactors and pebble fuel for gas-cooled reactors.Apart from a variable REE content, the monazite rock contained no Pt, Pd or Rh enrichment, but did contain an average of 0.61 g/t Au, 9.2 g/t Ag and 0.94% Cu (Palmer, 1987b). Referenceshttps://en.wikipedia.org

2. http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2015/10/16/norways-thorium-foundation-gains-steenkampskraal

3. http://www.thorium100.com/

4. http://www.thorium100.com/SMM.php

5. http://www.infomine.com/index/pr/PB/29/04/PB290427.PDF

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steenkampskraal_mine

7. http://photographywallpapers.bigbangfish.com/South-Africa-wallpapers-54076/9628/