Aclara decided to take more time to “fully understand and resolve the remaining issues” and resubmit a revised EIA application for its one project.

“We believe that withdrawing EIA’s request at this time is in the best interests of moving the project forward,” Ramon Barua, CEO of Aclara, said in a press release. “The company is well funded and can continue the permitting process while advancing its exploration program and the feasibility study.”

The Penco module, which covers 6 km2, contains deposits of ionic clay rich in heavy rare earth elements (REE) and difficult to find outside China, a country that dominates the mining and production of REE, according to the society. Aclara plans to produce rare earth concentrate through a processing plant that will be fed with clays from nearby deposits.

As part of the EIA approval process, Aclara had filed three submissions, the last filed on January 31. The company said it resolved a number of “key aspects” related to the project during the process, but it was unable to satisfy the SEA on aspects related to the protection of fauna and flora. local.

The Penco Module project has measured and reported resources of 20.7 million tonnes grading 90 parts per million (ppm) praseodymium oxide, 372 ppm neodymium oxide, 10 ppm terbium oxide and 71 ppm d dysprosium oxide with a combined rare earth oxide (REO) content of 2,426 parts per million (ppm) for a REO content of 50,178 tonnes. Inferred resources add 2.1 million tonnes with an REO grade of 2,299 ppm for an REO grade of 4,788 tonnes.