The Olserum Rare Earths project in Southern Sweden has the potential to be Europe’s first REE mine

Olserum is a rare earths project in southern Sweden, initially covering 6.5 sq km of permits acquired from two local private companies and subsequently expanded by EGT. It has a defined 43-101 compliant resource from 2013 consisting of an Indicated Resource of 4.5Mt grading 0.6% Total Rare Earth Oxides and Inferred Resource of 3.3Mt grading 0.63% Total Rare Earth Oxides using a 0.4% cut-off. The resource has a high contribution of high value critical REE namely dysprosium, neodymium and terbium.

Beneficiation test work reported in 2019 shows that a proven flowsheet can generate strong recoveries of REE. The estimated cumulative cost for all work conducted to date at Olserum is estimated by the Board to be in the region of £2 million. The resource covers a strike of 400m by 100-150m wide and is tested to a depth of 250m. It remains open at depth and laterally with significant potential to expand the resource based on new outcropping discoveries and positive channel sampling results 250m – 375m northwest of the historic resource. The nearby prospects of Djupedal and Bersummen present upside to the project with exciting high-grade targets at Djupedal (max assay values up to 20.45% TREO).

There are currently no REE mines in Europe. The value of developing Olserum in Europe is potentially extremely significant and valuable to end users on the continent.

Key Project Takeaways

Olserum has the potential to become the first operating REE mine in Europe, supplying valuable Magnet Rare Earths, used for the production of permanent magnets. These magnets are vital in the production of EVs, batteries and wind turbines, all critical for satisfying the EU’s net zero ambitions

Sweden is a favourable jurisdiction in Europe for development of green projects

Project has proximity to the Europe car manufacturing centres and new gigafactory construction market

Beneficiation testwork shows that REE can be recovered and that high grade concentrates can be produced by standard metallurgical processes

Project will be fast tracked to obtain 25 year mineral exploitation permit

Specific ESG Points:

Olserum is a low-impact project with an 8Mt resource (Boliden has processed over 60Mt from the Garpenberg zinc-lead mine and the resource at the Aitik copper deposit in Northern Sweden was 902Mt). The projected site could potentially fit within a 21 hectare area, the equivalent of the quarry at Gamleby, 7km to the south of Olserum.

The Olserum resource area is on commercial forestry lands away from settlements and EGT will adhere to the best industry practices for future drilling including recycling of water, removal of drill cuttings and capping of exploration holes.

The entire Vastervik region contains granites enriched with Uranium and Thorium, however, compared to other REE deposits globally, the levels at Olserum are low. Preliminary metallurgy tests indicated the natural radioactive elements are hosted in the monazite and xenotime elements.  This is not abnormal and as in all international operations, these elements would end up in a concentrate and removed according to legislation and best practise.  Stakeholders who have questions are actively encouraged to contact the Company who will happily talk through the environmental procedures.

The REE mineralisation at Olserum contains no sulphide. Therefore, the potential for acid mine drainage is limited compared to base metal mines. Copper, zinc and lead hosted in sulphide minerals with abundant pyrite can oxidise to create sulphuric acid over time. Monazite and Xenotime are phosphate minerals and are very stable compared to sulphides.