PROJECT UPDATE: Tasman Metals Gets 25-Yr Mining Lease

Tasman Metals (TSXV:TSM) popped 7.04 percent on the Toronto Venture Exchange Tuesday after the company announced its Norra Karr heavy REE project in Sweden was granted a 25-year lease. 

The lease by the Swedish Mining Inspectorate gives Tasman full mineral rights on the property for an initial 25 years, with the lease then subject to renewal in 10-year increments.

According to Tasman, the lease was granted following the gathering of environmental baseline data over several years, “recording flora and fauna, water quality in streams and lakes, the character of river, lake and soil sediments, and the biogeochemistry of local plants. Archaeology of the region was studied, as was waste-rock and tailings composition, leaching character, and potential locations for future tailings storage. Regular community meetings were held, and various local and regional government agencies were informed and consulted. No impediment to the Norra Karr project was identified during this extensive research.”

“The social impact studies that we completed highlighted the very positive regional impact that Tasman’s sustained investment in Norra Karr can bring. As Norra Karr can supply much of the European demand for REE’s for at least 40 years, we believe the supply security it shall provide will have a far reaching effect,” Tasman President and CEO Mark Saxon said in a statement.

The Norra Karr deposit contains dysprosium, used in automotive and green technologies, and yttrium, utilized in low-power lighting. Highlights from a recent NI 43101 resource estimate include an indicated resource of 4.5 million metric tons (MT) at 0.6-percent total rare earth oxide (TREO) and an inferred resource of 3.3 million MT at 0.63-percent TREO.

Jim Powell, Saxon’s VP corporate development, recently told Rare Earth Investing News that the current target is to begin production at Norra Karr in late 2016. Next steps for Tasman include applying for an environmental permit and filing a bankable feasibility study.

Norra Karr and Tasman’s other HREE project, Olserum, are currently the only deposits in Europe with NI 43-101 compliant REE resources. Tasman has said it plans to become a major producer of HREEs outside of China that would serve end users in Europe and Japan. The company would mine the material and produce a mixed concentrate, to be transported offsite via truck or rail to another location in Europe for separation.

Securities Disclosure: I, Andrew Topf, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Related Reading: 

Tasman Metals: Focused on Swedish Heavy Rare Earths

INN Video: Tasman Metals’ Mark Saxon Sees Bright Future for Swedish HREEs