Entered recently - a small investment - and have been doing some...

Entered recently - a small investment - and have been doing some research of late.  Anyone interested in REE might find the following 2017 article of interest on rare earths, demand scenarios and world resources (lots of stuff on end uses and the EV market in the 2017 article as well).  The demand outlook discussed from page 10 is a very interesting read as well.
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/7/11/203/pdf

Whilst rare earth are common, getting them in sufficient economic quantities is not.  In the above  article I found this comment interesting in italics below on page 6.  Basically confirming most rare earth identified resources are low grade  (with the discussion on page 7 and 8 also interesting)

"Additionally, it should be noted that REE resources, as opposed to REE reserves, have not have demonstrated economic viability. Reserves could be economically extracted or produced at the time of determination, while resources are merely an indication of potential economic feasibility, and the global REE resources, therefore, are substantially higher than figures published by the USGS [22] (126 Mt REO). About 27% of these deposits have REO ore grades <0.2%; 55% of projects have REO ore grades <1%, and only 5% of deposits have REO concentrations >10%. While almost all of the current REE deposits in production have REO ore grades >1%, such as 8.8% in the Mount Weld central lanthanide deposit (CLD), 5% in Bayan Obo, and 1.12% in Levozero, about 42% of these deposits are below the medium size, and 76% contain <1 Mt REO. While 5% contain >10 Mt REO, these giant deposits need to be further exploited and developed in the future."

In other words, more than likely it is going to be medium to high grade REE deposits that will cut the mustard noting those deposits that have a richer component of the rare earths destined for the EV market are the ones going to be better off as well.  The highest concentrations of rare earths are in carbonatites btw, with  a number of these rock formations identified in the world albeit few sites have enough of this rock type bearing rare earths in commercial quantities to be mined (see above link and at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70138176 ).  Bastnäsite is in the carbonatites group.

Which takes me to MNB, reading these threads and the Anns it is a potentially a high  grade deposit, compared to its peers when you compare this Ann to the data in the above link, but obviously drilling is required to confirm consistency of the data and infact it been a high grade deposit - as per the recent Ann.  Obviously a high risk high reward play here given few rare earths deposits ever get to mining, but the grade here if it transcends through to drilling is the exciting aspect here because if the grades remain consistent (and by that I mean grading above 3% ) there is a lot to get excited about here.

Anyone interested in how these resources are evaluated, cut off grades and economics of deposits might find this an interesting readbelow  as well, which I presume was written in 2015.  I would assume lower cut of grade would now apply given where REE prices are heading and what has happened since 2015, as I assume article linked below written then, but I would also assume lower cut of grades would apply if say have more of the REE's in your mix  that end up in the EV/magnet market.  The article was essentially saying cut off grades are around 3% TREO, and not sure how they got there either.
https://www.smedg.org.au/Hellman and Duncan REE Paper_2017.pdf

I will simply only note here that Neodymium is commonly found in carbonatites in the mineral bastnäsite, and that bodes well for MNB, givene this rare earths importance in the magnet market.
https://hastingstechmetals.com/rare-earths/neodymium/

The wikipedia page linked below is also an interesting read as well for bastnasite, especially at the end of it where they talk about the process flow sheet for getting the various REEs from ore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastnäsite

Now with China dominating the REE market anyone getting a good REE deposit of the ground I think can expect interest from outside China btw, but MNB are a long way from that here as yet to drill.  Apart from EVs, rare earths have a very wide application.  China does produce quite a lot of the rare earths market - actually has a monopoly on it - as it produces 90% to 95% of world output and basically predominantly uses it domestically. It then discriminates and actually at one stage banned exports to Japan as part of the South Sea dispute back in 2012 I think  and really stuffed up Japan in its electronics industry. Access to rare earths is actually a key to manufacturing competitiveness in electronics.  Just look at LYC a few years ago but obviously it is doing well now, because it actually is a supplier to a lot of Japan's rare earths and Japan never allowed it to die because of the importance of rare earths to electronics and the need to remove China's bargaining position in the market.
https://www.nextminingboom.com/mnb-taps-us20b-rare-earths-market-madagascar-heels-ev-revolution/

Point of the above paragraph - now with the EV market growing, again the role of rare earths will be critical to how much China locks up the EV market.  EVs are not simply about lithium, but require cobalt (which many know), but graphite (which some also know) and rare earths (which many are not aware off) as well.  Some relevant links are here on the rare earth requirements in EVs which bode well IMO IMO for any new prospective rare earths producer should they have the resources to be able to enter production.:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...demand-for-rare-earth-neodymium-idUSKCN1GO28I

https://unauthorised investment adv...-as-electric-car-demand-drives-magnet-metals/

Finally, I always find REE difficult to understand terminology.  REE is Rare Earth Elements and their oxides (Rare Earth Oxides - REO) whilst TREO is the total sum of the oxides.  So I have decided to duplicate the May Ann at Post #: 32894098 to help others understand the different terminology.  My workings are in this table showing TREE and TREO and REO makeup etc if anyone is interested.  Won't get into how atomic weights are reported for REE and REO which translate to the oxide conversion factor.



A longneck  VB drunk.

All IMO IMO IMO