American Rare Earths, through its subsidiary Wyoming Rare (USA) Inc., has commenced construction of a test mine at the Cowboy State mine, part of the Halleck Creek deposit in Wyoming. The test mining program will extract approximately 3,200 tonnes of ore.
“The commencement of test mining at CSM is a critical milestone in the company’s development pathway. Demonstration plants require substantial volumes of ore to validate processing flowsheets, generate end-product samples and support future technical studies,” explained American Rare Earths.
The first of two scheduled blasts was safely executed, fracturing weathered material to a depth of approximately 3.6 meters below the surface. This material will be excavated and stockpiled. Once removed, the underlying non-weathered ore will be exposed, blasted and crushed on-site to a top size of approximately 5 cm.
The crushed ore will be used for metallurgical testing and process optimization, building a stockpile for the demonstration plant, and producing samples for potential offtake partners. The weathered material will be used to backfill the test pit upon completion.
The test mining work also provides mining-related data, such as drill penetration rates, blast fragmentation, and other information applicable to mine design.
Source: American Rare Earths