Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/661612
28 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 6 M ineral exploration is basically a risky business; a company is always pleased to be at the right place at the right time. Such is the case for Critical elements Corp. [CRE-TSXV; CRECF- OTCQX; F12-FSE]. The company has a 100% interest in the advanced-stage Rose lithium- tantalum project in the James Bay region of mine friendly Québec. Specifically, the Rose Project is 75 km south of Goldcorp's produc- ing Eleonore gold mine. The Rose Project has electric power to the site with a 100-tonne capacity road just 100 metres away. The project is 35 km north of Nemiscau which has road access and an airport. In addition, a mining camp is available 30 km from the mine site. Due to the increasing demand for lithium batteries to power just about everything as well as applications in the glass and ceramics industry, lithium is one of the bright spots in a general downturn in commodity prices. Tantalum makes cell phones possible with their use in tiny tan- talum-based capacitors. Lithium battery manufacturing is expected to triple by 2020 with basic lithium demand from 2000 to 2008 at 10% and at 11% up to 2017. Tantalum demand has been growing at about 8-12% since 1995. A financial analysis in the form of a Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment has been completed for the Rose Project with a favourable bottom line based on price forecasts of US $6,000/tonne for lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ) and US $260/kg for Ta 2 O 5 con- tained in a tantalum concentrate. The after-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) works out to be 25% with an estimated Net Present Value (NPV) of $279 million at an 8% discount rate. Payback is expected to be 4.1 years. Using the above PEA, the proposed mine would support a production rate of 26,606 tons of high-purity (99.98% bat- tery grade) Li 2 CO 3 and 206,670 pounds of Ta 2 O 5 per year over a 17-year mine life. Estimated capital costs to build the mine are pegged at $268.6 million with operating costs of CDN $67.65/tonne of ore milled. Ongoing capital investment is expected to be $36.8 million. Regarding First Nations, the com- pany has signed a Project Development Agreement with the Eastmain Cree Community. A total of 181 drill holes totaling 26,500 metres have been drilled to date on the Rose deposit. Based on drilling results, the Rose deposit hosts indicated resources of 26.5 million tonnes containing 1.30% Li 2 O Equivalent (Eq) or 0.98% Li 2 O (259,700 tonnes of Li 2 O or 642,238 tonnes of Li 2 CO 3 Eq), 163 ppm of Ta 2 O 5 (9,514,317 Critical Elements' Rose lithium-tantalum project moving forward by Ellsworth Dickson Jean-Raymond Lavallée, Director, collects a lithium-tantalum mineral sample at the Rose Project in western Québec. Photo courtesy Critical Elements Corp. LIThIuM