Ucore Rare Earth - USA braucht seltene Erden HREE
China’s power play
By Charlie Gillis - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - 15 Comments
China is flexing its trade and military muscles. What does it mean for the West?
Reuters
In the world of prized metals, dysprosium lacked a certain star power. It lies deep in the so-called f-block of the periodic table—that free-floating part near the bottom you never used in high school chemistry—along with the other so-called rare-earth elements with tongue-twisting names like neodymium and lutetium. No one ever set out with mule and pick-axe to find dysprosium. It occurs only as a constituent part of other mineral compounds, which explains why its name derives from the Greek for “hard to get at.”
But in recent months, dysprosium has shed its obscurity to prove that, like oil or diamonds, it can serve as leverage in an international dispute. Its debut took place shortly after Sept. 7, when Japan seized the crew of a Chinese fishing boat that had rammed two Japanese coast guard vessels near the Senkaku Islands, a string of barren rocks jutting from the East China Sea that has been a source of tension between the two countries for centuries. Infuriated by Tokyo’s refusal to turn over the skipper of the trawler, Beijing retaliated in a way no one expected: it cut off Japan’s supply of dysprosium, along with 16 other rare earth metals. Dysprosium and its chemical cousins are the lifeblood of Japan’s vaunted high-tech industries, used in everything from iPhone screens to the electric motor of the Toyota Prius. China, it turns out, produces 93 per cent of the world’s supply of them, having gotten into the market 25 years ago, then flooded the globe with cheaply mined product during the late 1990s. Today, if you want a shipment of dysprosium, you buy it from China....
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Ucore Recovers Over 4000 Metres of Historical Drill Core
April 5, 2011 - Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX-V: UCU, OTCQX: UURAF), ("Ucore" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has recovered several thousand metres of historical drill core related to its Bokan area rare earth project in Southeast Alaska.
During the course of recent field investigations, the Ucore team recovered numerous wellpreserved cores from diamond drill holes originally generated by Standard Metals Corporation in the 1970's. The drill cores were originally logged by Bendix Field Engineering Corporation for the US Department of Energy (Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, Report No. 78-245-E).
The historical core samples, pertaining to more than 70 holes and totalling more than 4,000 linear metres, have now been archived by Ucore. A significant portion of the samples appear to be mineralized and will be analyzed to determine rare earth mineralization in the area. Significantly, the samples pertain to locations situated to the northwest of the Dotson Zone, and outside of the areas delineated in the Company's recent NI 43-101 compliant resource.
The Company is additionally pleased to report that it has obtained an extensive database of information on the Bokan complex from Newmont Mining Corporation . The database includes drill core logs, maps, cross sections and chemical analyses unrelated to the Standard Metals drill activities. NEM was the last operator in the Bokan area during the 1970's. The data will assist the Ucore team in advancing exploration efforts in the area and will help to identify on-site targets for additional resources.
"This is a remarkable find for Ucore," said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of the Company. "The Standard Metals core archive alone represents several million dollars of drilling in an area already earmarked by Ucore for investigation. In turn, this is a windfall that should greatly advance our understanding of the area at a small fraction of the cost of new drilling. Our intent is to carefully analyse and assay the core archive during the 2011 exploration season. Further, the extensive database delivered by Newmont is yet another substantial asset obtained for nominal outlay, which could prove invaluable to expanding the resource at Bokan."
Background
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. is a well-funded junior exploration company focused on establishing rare earth element (REE), uranium and other rare metal resources through exploration and property acquisition. With multiple projects across North America, Ucore's primary focus is the 100% owned Bokan - Dotson ridge REE property in Alaska.
The Bokan - Dotson ridge REE project is located 60 km southwest of Ketchikan, Alaska and 140 km northwest of Prince Rupert, British Columbia and have a direct ocean access to the western seaboard and the Pacific Rim, a significant advantage in expediting mine production and limiting the capital costs associated with mine construction. The properties are located in an area reserved for sustainable resource development with an existing road network providing access to the main target areas. REE mineralization at the Bokan-Dotson ridge-I&L zone project occurs in a well-demarcated vein system related to a Mesozoic Bokan peralkaline granitic complex. However, a number of other occurrences of REE mineralization are located within, or at the margins of the complex. Viewed in a geological and geophysical context, the Bokan complex is a distinctive circular structure and is highly prospective for rare earths.
For further information, please contact Mr. Jim McKenzie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ucore Rare Metals Inc. at: (902) 482-5214.
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- Ucore's 43-101 Reported 3,669,000 Metric Tonnes (.5% TREO Cutoff) containing Dysprosium Oxide @ .29 kgs/tonne = 1,064 Metric Tonnes
- Ucore Recovers Over 4000 Metres of Historical Drill Core http://conta.cc/eVrvQu
- Metal Pages reports that the price of Dysprosium has just shot up approx. $100/ Kg.
- Dy traded for approx $30 /kg in 2002, and now trades at over $600 / Kg... a 2000% increase! Compare that to gold over the same period.
- Bokan has the largest 43-101 compliant Dy resource on US soil. Approx 70% of the value of HREE's (excluding Y) at Bokan comes from Dy alone.
- Dy has been earmarked by the USDOD as the most strategically important and critically threatened metal to the US (Dec 2010).
- New Video - Ed Schoenfeld discusses Jack Lifton/Ucore http://ucore.com/media
- 3 new videos featuring Ken Collison (Collison Minecon Inc.) discussing Ucore Rare Metals Bokan Mountain Project. http://ucore.com/media
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http://ucore.com/...s-2011-mine-scoping-and-resource-development-plan
Ucore Releases 2011 Mine Scoping and Resource Development Plan
May 10, 2011
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX-V:UCU, OTCQX:UURAF; “Ucore” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the 2011 exploration and development agenda for the Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earth element (REE) project in Southeast Alaska (“Bokan”). The comprehensive program continues under the management of Ucore’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary Rare Earth One, LLC. The 2011 operations will focus on characterizing the area’s heavy REE-rich mineralization while aggressively expanding project scope and advancing operations toward producing mine status as quickly as possible.
The 2011 agenda relies in part on the recommendations of a recently completed independently NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the area (see Ucore press release: March 7, 2011), as well as a comprehensive new 3-D model of the area’s REE mineralization, now available on the Company’s website (see: www.ucore.com).
The 2011 program has an overall objective of significantly enlarging the size of the existing Inferred Resource by drilling at greater depth, in addition to upgrading the previously released Inferred Resource to an Indicated classification via infill drilling. Ucore’s management has approved an expenditure of US$8 million for the overall 2011 field program, comprising 12,000 linear metres of new drilling.
“This is the most ambitious exploration and development program undertaken by Ucore to date at Bokan,” said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of Ucore. “Our highest priority is on the advancement of a prospective mine as quickly as possible. This means targeting more than three times the amount of drilling that we’ve undertaken in prior years, more sub surface work via a proposed adit, and the acceleration of metallurgical work to generate effective ore separation and processing regimes. Our overall objective is to take the project to bankable feasibility within 24 months; an aggressive but very achievable target, given Bokan’s remarkable advantages of superior access, prior workings, and prior successful metallurgical findings already on hand.”
Ucore has retained Aurora Geosciences Alaska Ltd. of Juneau, Alaska, to oversee field operations and diamond drilling. The Company has retained the services of Collison Minecon Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia for the purpose of early stage mine scoping and engineering work. Kent and Sullivan Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska and Amerikanuak Inc. of Juneau, Alaska, have been mutually engaged to initiate the collection of baseline environmental data required for the permitting of prospective mining operations, and to advise on federal and state level permitting issues on a go forward basis. Melis Engineering Ltd. of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been retained to supervise bench and bulk scale metallurgical work, in cooperation with Hazen Research Inc. of Golden, Colorado. The mine engineering, environmental assessment and metallurgical work are anticipated to contribute to an NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”), scheduled for completion in 2011.
An area of focus in 2011 will be the advanced mineralogical and metallurgical study of Bokan mineralization. Analysis pertaining to the efficient separation and extraction of target rare earth minerals is now in progress, with the aim of developing an efficient and cost effective metallurgical processing flowsheet. Bench scale test work is currently under way at Hazen Research (see Ucore press release: October 22, 2010), and a larger scale (60 ton) bulk sample from the Dotson Zone will be obtained and processed for analysis during the 2011 season.
In order to advance project development into the sub surface, permitting to access the Dotson Zone via an exploration adit has now been initiated. The adit will provide all season drill access and improved locations for collaring holes intended to extend the deposit at depth. The adit will also be used to access bulk sample material for testing. Early stage work required to fulfill the environmental regulatory requirements of a proposed mine operation is already in progress.
Recently recovered historical drill cores from the Bokan complex are now being readied for analysis (see Ucore press release: April 5, 2011). Select core has been logged by geological and radiometric methods, and will be sent for chemical assay, with results anticipated during the 2011 exploration and development season.
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by Jack Lifton on August 4, 2011
http://www.techmetalsresearch.com/2011/08/...ystal-balls-brass-balls/
Monday, August 15, 2011 Michael A. Berry, Ph.D.
http://www.discoveryinvesting.com/uploads/...onday_August_15_2011.pdf
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Critical Metals Report
August 16, 2011
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/10579
By Daniel Grushkin
October 27, 2011, 5:00 PM EDT
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/...mountain-10272011_page_4.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usZ5pkuCeAM&feature=related
By Bryan Murphy
Published: October 28, 2011 11:56:30 AM PDT
Whatever got into Ucore Rare Metals, Inc. (PINK:UURAF) today, it appears to be the right thing. This relatively obscure rare earth miner - in comparison to the likes of Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE:MCP) and Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX:REE) anyway - is up 24% today, on no real news. To be fair, REE and MCP are up a little today as well, but nowhere near as firmly as UURAF is. What's up?
In the absence of any direct news, one can only assume that somebody's knows something about an upcoming announcement. That, or this is the response to more worries that China was going to mandate another cut in production. It did so last month, putting the kibosh on the fluorescent lamp market. In the meantime production has been restored, but not until the price of the underlying rare metal jumped 30% - the goal of the maneuver in the first place.
The semi-good news for the three stocks in question is that they're all U.S.-based, and as such don't feel the effects of China's REE-market 'tweaking'. The bad news is, neither Ucore Rare Metals nor Rare Element Resources Ltd. nor Molycorp is actually producing significantly yet, making the price changes of any rare earth elements a little meaningless for the trio.
Yet, UURAF is soaring. How so? Because stocks don't trade based on their value - they trade based on the expected value 6 months to 2 years down the road. The challenge with that mentality is the 'expected value' is a moving target. If you can apply a little psychology to the valuation forecast though, there's still good money to be made by trading these stocks.
As for what that means regarding Ucore Rare Metals right here and right now, the surge is a clue that investors have finally started to believe what's been said for months now... the company is sitting on a mountain of uranium and rare earth elements. In fact, its REE resource is estimated to be one of the largest deposits of heavy and light rare earth elements in the United States. It's particularly rich with the heavy elements, which is good - they tend to be worth more.
One of the other major deposits of REEs is held by none other than Molycorp, Inc. - its Mountain Pass (California) project that should begin production in mid-2012, and hit its peak production of 40,000 metric tons of rare earth oxides per year by 2013.
Rare Element Resources Ltd. is placing the bulk of its time, attention, and resources on the Bear Lodge Property in Wyoming, which is reported to be yet-another "one of the biggest deposits of rare earth elements in North America". It's said to be a mix of heavy and light REEs, but with more heavy than light elements.
While a dollar figure for the value of each of these dig-sites has been presumed (sometimes by the companies themselves), that's a dangerous game to play. Geological estimates can be wrong, and it may end up costing more to dig the elements up than what they can be sold for; that's the reason Molycorp closed the Mountain Pass site several years ago.
What we can be certain of, however, is the value of each company. This is where Ucore Rare Metals and its $75 million market cp stand out. Molycorp is a $3.4 billion company, while Rare Element Resources is a $285 million company... yet it's not clear which one will be the most profitable once prediction begins. For that matter, it's not even clear which one will be able to produce the absolute biggest profit once production begins.
And the fact is, UURAF has as much potential to start production soon (well within five years) as the other two do, but still hasn't gotten any real media attention. That's the heart of the opportunity though. There's also a (fading) rumor that Ucore Rare Metals is a potential target of Molycorp's.
http://www.smallcapnetwork.com/...ia/1789/article/view/p/mid/1/id/86/
Auszug:
"For those convinced of the revolutionary power rare earth elements offer, there are many opportunities on the horizon for this sector in flux, some of which do end up making mainstream news. A few days ago, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (UCU:TSX.V; UURAF:OTCQX) impressed the rare earth sector with a highly favorable metallurgical report. Indeed, the company was informed by Hazen Labs that it could separate 85%-90% of the rare earths from the ore. Immediately, other players in the sector issued competitive announcements. However, Ucore maintains sole possession of the most advanced heavy rare earth deposit on United States land. They have already identified an NI 43-101 resource on American territory and not left it to vague hyperbole. Ucore is rapidly advancing with its Preliminary Economic Assessment. Recently, Ucore was mentioned on CNBC as being an attractive takeover candidate for Molycorp Minerals (MCP:NYSE), Lynas Corp. (LYC:ASX) or Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (GWG:TSX.V; GWMGF:OTCQX). Ucore was also featured in a Businessweek feature article by Daniel Grushkin entitled, "Alaska's Billion Dollar Mine." Little Ucore is at long last hitting mainstream media. We have been singing this particular song for a long time.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether sector giant Molycorp can specify the quality and quantity of the actual heavy rare earths they are going to produce. Molycorp or Lynas might be well advised to acquire a heavy rare earth asset at these low valuation levels in order to present a complete catalogue of rare earths to the investment world. We will all have to watch the headlines to find out."
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/11469
(Reuters) - The vast majority of non-Chinese rare earth metal (REM) ventures will fail due to a lack of expertise and high ore processing costs, says Jack Lifton, founder of the industry consultancy Technology Metals Research.
Firms were quick to launch new mines and restart mothballed operations as soon as China, which controls about 95 percent of the REM market, started slashing its export quota in 2009.
Of the 244 companies hoping to produce the rare earth metals essential to a wide range of high-tech industries, less than 4 percent will prove profitable, the strategic metals consultant told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
"The choke point for all the companies is the question of what they can do with the concentrated REM ore once it's above ground. You can extract the rare earths together, but then you have to separate them...the world's REM separation capacity is 99 percent Chinese and they have unused capacity," Lifton said.
"The Chinese overwhelmingly control this and that is the key to the rare earth industry. Without separation capacity, all you have is a loss-making ore concentrate company."
Prized for their magnetism, luminescence and strength, rare earths are used by manufacturers of everything from smartphones to hybrid cars and wind turbines, but the elements occur together in the earth in different proportions and the separation process is complex and expensive.
"That's why you don't want the biggest deposits, you don't want to have to process hundreds of tonnes at horrendous cost. You're looking for the highest grade heavy rare earths and the least cost to recover them. It's a question of economics," Lifton said.
Heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, crucial for the high-power magnets needed by the auto, defense and clean energy industries, are scarcer than cerium and other light rare earths, making them much more valuable.
China currently controls 100 percent of the market for three heavy REM: dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.
"I'm worried about dysprosium supply...A while ago we predicted that dysprosium would be $2000 a kilo by 2020, it's now selling for over $2000 a kilo within China. All bets are off," Lifton said.
HARD TO GET
Named after the ancient Greek word for 'hard to get', dysprosium will be in deficit until 2017, the longest of all REM, according to a report on critical REM published by Technology Metals Research in August 2011.
U.S. firm Molycorp, the world's largest REM producer outside of China, is slated to start initial production in early 2012, but its deposits are skewed toward light rare earths.
Prices of light REM in particular have fallen almost 30 percent since reaching record highs earlier this year after China repeatedly slashed export quotas, cutting shipments abroad to 30,184 tonnes in 2011 from about 60,000 tonnes in 2007.
The rare earth market is in a correction cycle after China's export cuts, mining reforms and stockpiling pushed prices of most REM to an unsustainably high level, Lifton said, adding prices at this lower level would make it even harder for non-Chinese ventures to make a profit.
Cerium, a light REM used primarily in glass polishing, surged from about $4 a kilogram in 2009 to about $157 in July 2011. The price has since fallen to around $55/kg.
"In terms of investment, the best bet are the companies that will be producing the heavy rare earths that will be in deficit in the future. As it shakes out, there are around 250 companies, only 25 of them have a chance and less than 10 will survive," Lifton added.
According to Technology Metals Research, the non-Chinese mines with the highest deposits of the heavy rare earths, which they consider critical in terms of future shortage, including dysprosium, belong to Lynas Corp, Great Western Minerals Group, Quest Rare Minerals, Ucore and Tasman metals.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/01/...on-idUSTRE7A03Q120111101
Equity Research | November 1, 2011
Ucore Rare Metals Inc.
(UCU - TSXV, $0.56)
Rating: SPECULATIVE BUY Target Price: $0.80↑
http://ucore.com/ByronCapital_Nov1_2011.pdf
by Jon Hykawy
Published 11/3/2011
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2011/11/...ting-It-Straight.aspx
September 6, 2011
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41347.pdf
Auszug:
Are there problems with the supply of rare earth raw materials?
Resource problems are not that severe for neodymium, which is the main rare earth element in rare earth magnets. As mentioned in the section "Basics of rare earth magnets", neodymium is present in the earth's crust in amounts similar to those of cobalt and copper and is not that rare an element. Furthermore, it is also known that sizeable reserves of neodymium-producing deposits are present in various places around the world. It is thought that if the demand for neodymium increases, it will be extracted and produced from those mines to meet the market demand. On the other hand, conditions are somewhat different for dysprosium, which is the main element added to neodymium magnets. The amount of dysprosium in the Earth's crust is about 1/5 that of neodymium. Since less dysprosium is used than neodymium, this should not be that much of a problem. However, the problem is the quality of dysprosium deposits. There are few useable deposits from which dysprosium can be taken economically. Looked at in terms of resources, dysprosium-bearing deposits are present in various places around the world. However, these either have low content or environmental problems or are note economically viable. Currently, almost all economically extractable dysprosium deposits are in China. This is because the Chinese government turned its gaze on neodymium magnets early on and has a history as a nation state of developing rare earth resources.
Well then, is there a problem with supplies of dysprosium being dependent on China? This is a difficult problem. It is difficult to give a simple and direct answer. However, this is what we think at this time. In the past, various resource crises have been proclaimed. However, almost none of these actually reached crisis levels. This is because when the need for a specific resource is recognized, new development moves forward, deposits are discovered and mining technology is improved. When it comes to commerce, businesses develop implementing these measures. Actually, not so much effort has been put into looking for dysprosium deposits until now. Detailed resource exploration like that undertaken within China has not yet been carried out that much worldwide. Recent resource exploration research has reported the possibility of new dysprosium deposits. Dysprosium mines are being developed in Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, etc. Certainly, one can see dysprosium resource development lagging behind the development of neodymium deposits. There is a possibility that time differences will appear between the demand and supply of dysprosium. However, we think that ultimately dysprosium resource development will move forward and that it will be possible to secure the dysprosium required for magnets.
"Despite erroneous comments by one negative source possibly representing short sellers and competitors, the truth is that Ucore's (UURAF.PK) Bokan Mountain is one of the highest grade world class heavy rare earth deposits with the only 43-101
compliant heavy rare earth resource in the United States."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/...-earth-crisis-in-the-united-states
Mark Weaver:
"In an operational sense, Ucore has clearly advanced the development of its world-class deposit with XRT technology. Increasing effective grade in this manner, before it is processed, can have a dramatic impact on its concentrate value as well as lowering operating expenditures related to processing lower grade ore and managing waste. The net effect of employing XRT places Ucore’s Bokan project among the highest point-of-origin heavy rare earth grades in the world. Given its current share price of $0.55, more than 60% off its March 2011 highs, Ucore offers investors a speculative opportunity to profit from the potential extraction of resources demanded by the leading economies of the 21st century."
http://moneyinmetals.com/files/261.pdf
http://ucore.com/ucore-grants-incentive-stock-options
...
Dysprosium findet man in allen Lagerstätten, aber meist nur in sehr geringen Mengen. Das jetzige Dysprosium, das auf den Weltmarkt kommt, kommt aus Südchina. Die Chinesen haben natürlich auch ein großes Interesse, ihre eigene Magnetindustrie zu entwickeln und aufzubauen - die Wertschöpfung im Lande zu halten. Für Dysprosium kann man für das nächste Jahrzehnt einen Engpass vorhersagen."
...
http://www.deraktionaer.de/aktien-weltweit/...verfuegung-13758449.htm
"... Don't let Molycorp's issues affect your views on Ucore. Ucore is a strong play on its own merits. The rest of the market is going to do whatever it's going to do. Ucore gives every indication of becoming a survivor of the coming shakeout."
http://ucore.com/ByronKing_Nov162011.pdf
"Today, the Goliaths are stumbling as they finally have to come up against their moment of truth."
Gold Stock Trades is growing increasingly aware that Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (UCU:TSX.V; UURAF:OTCQX) is the little David that has the potential of besting the Goliaths in the rare earth area. Recently, GST took a field trip out to Alaska's Mt. Bokan to assess the situation with our own eyes. This was followed by a trip to Hazen Labs in Denver to determine the economic viability of extricating the heavy rare earth concentrate from the underlying rock.
It is all good and well for companies to deluge investors with hyperbole. After all this is the source of the word hype. Today the rare earths claimed by other companies in this sector are having to make embarrassing readjustments to their elaborate projections. Thus Molycorp comes out with disappointing numbers that expose their inability to meet their own projections. What about Avalon? They have been forced to fall on their own swords as they admit delays on their feasibility study due to issues involving metallurgical processing so important to the economic viability of their project. Lynas has local opposition against their processing plant in Malaysia.
Investors are growing cautious as these companies have to face the bread and butter realities incumbent on bringing rare earths into production away from the Chinese players. Certainly, little David (Ucore) appears to have a certain advantage over the cumbersome and much larger behemoths on the field.
Ucore was called to Washington in an advisory capacity as an expert source for the edification of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Our representatives are beginning to awaken to the urgency of developing a domestic rare earth supply chain. At last our representatives are realizing the importance of taking the Critical Minerals Act off the shelves and making the bill a fait accompli.
We are talking here about national survival as heavy rare earth metals such as dysprosium and terbium are essential for the growth of our domestic industrial base and our national security. The Committee was made aware that it was not enough to mine the material and send it to China for separation. America has to produce magnets on U.S. soil or face becoming a client state of Beijing.
Paradoxically, the rare earths were once an American resource.
Somewhere along the way the Chinese twenty years ago were able to coop American know how. Ucore brought this urgency to the awareness of the committee. Ucore's CEO Jim Mckenzie emphasized, ". . .restarting the rare earth supply chain within the United States is essential not only for national security and clean technology, but also as a means to putting American-based ingenuity back to work and avoiding further degradation of the country's industrial base." Ucore is talking jobs here and American independence.
Interesting how the Chinese have turned the precepts of Adam Smith against us. There is a good reason why Ucore was asked to enlighten the committee. Ucore owns the highest grade and largest 43-101 compliant resource of critically essential heavy rare earths.
We now find that purported giants such as Molycorp, Avalon and Lynas have over-claimed and are facing an embarrassing retreat from their projections. Molycorp missed guidance, Avalon delays their feasibility due to metallurgy and Lynas has got their own problems of having to operate in a questionable jurisdiction in Malaysia. There is much noise here and little substance. These companies have multi-billion market caps that are questionable and have shown meager results. Ucore has only an $80 million market cap but presents a rare instance where the little guy can slowly but surely present a superior case. Ucore has certainly gained market share on Molycorp in 2011 and may continue to do so in 2012.
The reach of the giants have exceeded their grasp. It is not enough to claim colossus advantage if you are bucking up against unfriendly jurisdictions, questionable logistics such as roads or ports, high capital costs, environmental opposition and resistance from indigenous groups. Today, the Goliaths are stumbling as they finally have to come up against their moment of truth.
Ucore is moving ahead quietly and surely with the support of the entire Alaskan political representation including the Governor, Senators and Congressmen. "Little David" (Ucore) has a few more stones in their slingshot such as the advanced X-ray approach of extricating the heavy rare earth ore from the waste rock and what is hoped to be a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) expected in the first quarter of 2012. Additionally the metallurgical results from Hazen have been extremely favorable and hopefully will continue to yield increasingly positive results.
In conclusion, we feel that Ucore will lead the next leg up in the rare earth sector. In this case, bigger will not necessarily be better, instead it will all boil down to the economics of extraction, a domestic supply chain and geopolitical/financial support. Stay tuned.
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/11628