still in active discussions with."
When asked about the price spike in
REEs, and pricing his product, Bubar said,
"The heavy rare earths, because they typically occur in much lower abundances in
most deposits, are generally more valuable,
depending on how much demand there is
for them. It's a big range. The most common light rare earths, lanthanum and
cerium, typically trade within the range
of a few dollars per kilo, compared to
thousands of dollars per kilo for some of
the heavy rare earths such as europium.
We developed a price forecast based on
historic information and the supply and
demand picture that we see unfolding in
the future. What is often done with mining projects is to use a three year trailing
average. We did not do that because it (the
2010-11 price spike) would have distorted
the value. That being said, if there isn't
new supply coming to the marketplace
before long, there probably will be another
spike in prices."
"It is a big undertaking. To get into
the rare earths business outside of China,
because there are no existing processing
facilities of size outside of China; a new producer has to build out the full processing
and refining infrastructure," Bubar said.
Avalon's goal is to be the first, sustainable, heavy rare earth producer in North
America. "Avalon will be the leading outside-of-China supplier of heavy rare earths
and other rare metal and mineral products
to the global market."
What is going on now at the property?
Bubar said, "We've got a little more infill
drilling to do in a couple of spots to complete the picture for the reserve that will
define the mine plan. We'll be doing it
this summer. And there is some other
site preparation work that we plan to do.
Depending on access to capital, we are
doing some work to expand our airstrip
so we can accommodate bigger aircraft to
prepare for mobilization in 2014."
"We also have to finish off the permitting process," said Bubar. "We are
expecting our environmental assessment
report to be complete and back to us from
the Review Board by the end of
JULY 2013
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