Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd. (LON:RBW) has reaffirmed that first production and sales of rare earth concentrate from the Gakara Rare Earth Project in Burundi are on schedule for the fourth quarter of 2017.
The mining company said Gakara is one of the highest grade rare earth element mining projects globally, with an estimated in situ grade of 47-67% Total Rare Earth Oxide, and the company is targeting a production rate of 5,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2018.
WATCH: Rainbow Rare Earths on track to ship first concentrate by year-end
The group said it has made excellent progress towards final completion and commissioning of its processing plant at Kabezi and the target of first shipment this quarter remains on track.
It added that it has been working closely with various agencies of the Government of Burundi to ensure that the exportation process for Rainbow mineral concentrate takes place efficiently.
Martin Eales, Rainbow’s CEO, commented: "With the first shipment of Gakara concentrate imminent, we are encouraged by the identification of at least four highly prospective anomalies which could directly enhance the longer-term production profile of this project.“
READ: Rainbow Rare Earths now within an ace of first production at Gakara
He added: “We have believed for some time that the high-grade Gakara veins must have emanated from a substantial carbonatite source and through our recent work we have established some extremely positive indicators for the locations of what may be multiple carbonatites within our licence area that will be a key focus for our near-term exploration campaign."
In late morning trading, Rainbow Rare Earths' shares were up 4%, or 0.6% at 16.25p.
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