TheArchitect

Rare Earths Are Critical to Escape China's Grip! Two Explorers with Amazing Potential to provide supply for non-China sources. ASX Listed $ALV.ax (A$26m) and $PNN.ax (A$61m) Both in Brazil and both neigbours to recent major takeovers with ALV on the same granite system 40km north of Serre Verde US$2.8 Billion takeover by USA Rare Earths. // PNN next door to $MEI where Lynas $LYC is acquiring for A$968 million. Overview of each: Alvo Minerals ($ALV): Deposit Type: Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) Cheaper to process than hard rock deposits. Headline Grade: 1,000 to 2,500 ppm TREO - Looks low but is not the end goal for IAC deposits. Heavy REE Mix (Dy/Tb): High 3% of total rare earths. - This is the differentiator and what makes ALV stand out against other higher grade hard rock deposits and makes up for the lower grades. Processing Path: Simple, cheap salt wash at room temperature Power Minerals ($PNN): Deposit Type: Hard-rock hosted in weathered clay Headline Grade: 4.0% to 17.5%+ TREO / 40,000 to 175,000+ ppm - Looks huge and needs to prove it can be economical, size outweighs lower total REEs Heavy REE Mix (Dy/Tb): Low (0.5% of total rare earths) Processing Path: Complex, aggressive chemical and acid heating processes PNN's Numbers Look Massive: PNN hits numbers like 91 meters at 7.7% TREO (77,000 ppm). In the mining world, anything reported in percentages sounds incredible. Why Looks Can Deceive: Most of PNN's massive grade is made up of Cerium and Lanthanum—two light rare earths that are currently oversupplied worldwide and worth very little money. ALV's Numbers Look Small: ALV reports grades around 1,300 ppm (0.13%). While this looks tiny next to PNN, this grade is completely normal and standard for an ionic clay deposit. Rare earth value is not about how much rock you have; it is about which specific rare earths are inside that rock. Heavy Rare Earths HREOs: - Dysprosium & Terbium DyTb These are the ultra-rare elements required for high-temperature electric vehicle motors and defense technology. Terbium trades for thousands of dollars per kilogram. ALV has high Heavy REE content: 3% of ALV's total rare earth mix consists of DyTb. Because DyTb prices are so high, it drives the entire value of ALV's project. PNN has low Heavy REE content: In PNN's high-grade hits, DyTb makes up only about 0.5% of the mix. PNN is almost entirely a Light Rare Earth deposit. Processing ALV (Ionic Clays): The rare earths are lightly stuck to the outside of clay particles. You can wash them out using simple, cheap ammonium sulfate salt water at ambient temperatures. Low grade does not matter as much because processing is so cheap. PNN (Hard-Rock Minerals): PNN's rare earths are locked inside hard minerals (bastnasite and cerianite). Even though the ground is weathered and soft, you cannot just wash the rare earths out with salt water. You generally have to bake them at high temperatures with strong acids to crack the minerals. This requires massive energy, heavy chemical costs, and expensive processing plants. ALV is a low-grade, high-value Heavy Rare Earth clay play with cheap processing potential PNN is an ultra-high-grade Light Rare Earth play that still has to prove its processing economics Both high potential resources but very different projects. #asx #rareearths #crticalminerals #lithium #copper #mining #xec #xjo #smallcaps $LYC $skk $jns $ody $WCN #Australia

$26m (aud) market cap Alvo Minerals (asx $ALV) on the same geological granite as the US$2 Billion acquisition of Serra Verde by USA Rare Earths...