{"id":70553,"date":"2023-02-01T05:33:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T19:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=70553"},"modified":"2023-02-01T05:33:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T19:03:38","slug":"arafura-renewables-nolans-mb2811","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/arafura-renewables-nolans-mb2811\/","title":{"rendered":"Arafura Looks To Renewables To Power NT Rare Earths Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Arafura<\/p>\n

Arafura Rare Earths Limited has chosen a greenhouse gas emissions reduction pathway for its mining project in the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n

The Nolans Project site is 135 kilometres north of Alice Springs. It will include a mine, processing facilities and related infrastructure, and is considered a globally significant “NdPr” project.<\/p>\n

What is NdPr?<\/h2>\n

The Nolans Project site<\/a> boasts fifteen rare earth elements, but is particularly rich in two of the world’s most sought after – Neodymium (Nd)<\/a> and Praseodymium (Pr)<\/a>. Among other applications, these are used in the manufacturing of magnets for electric vehicle<\/a> motors and wind turbines. NdPr will likely account for about 80 per cent of the revenue from Nolans.<\/p>\n

As EV uptake increases, so will demand for NdPr – electric vehicles alone are projected to represent 40% of total demand.<\/p>\n

Solar, Wind, Batteries, CST And TES<\/h2>\n

The Nolans project is expected to produce 4,440 tonnes per annum of NdPr oxide and 470 tonnes per annum of a mixed middle-heavy rare earth (SEG\/HRE) oxide.<\/p>\n

This stuff won’t magically pull itself out of the ground, nor process itself and there will be a lot of energy consumed in doing so. Electricity and thermal power ( steam generation) together will account for approximately 85% of the Project\u2019s forecast emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise we will need to address a range of challenges in decarbonising rare earth processing, which is, by its nature, an energy intensive process,” said<\/a> Arafura Rare Earth\u2019s Managing Director, Gavin Lockyer. “Nonetheless, the Arafura team is committed to implementing a practical, cost-efficient pathway to net zero.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In August last year, Arafura committed to net-zero emissions for the Nolans project by 2050.\u00a0 Five different potential pathways for reducing emissions have been evaluated for the project’s stationary power and steam generation needs. The chosen pathway consists of:<\/p>\n