Rare earths developer Arafura Resources has announced a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant reserve of 24-million tons, at 2.8% rare-earth oxides at its Nolans rare earths project, in the Northern Territory.

“This is a landmark achievement for the company. The establishment of a world-scale Jorc ore reserve further validates the commercial appeal of the Nolans project,” said Arafura CEO Chris Tonkin.

“Nolans is one of a very small number of rare-earth projects anywhere in the world that has established an ore reserve,” he added.

The company said on Tuesday that the ore reserve could support a 22-year mine life, at a rate of 1.1-million tons a year.

Arafura also outlined a 21-million-ton inferred resource at the Nolans Bore, which it said could be converted to additional ore reserve with further drilling to improve the confidence in these resources.

Large parts of the resources remained open at depth.

“Today’s announcement continues the recent positive news-flow momentum for the company, following the significant tax refund received in October, and more recently the support of our major shareholder ECE, which together have secured Arafura’s short- to medium-term funding needs,” Tonkin said.

Arafura secured A$9.9-million in funding from ECE to progress the feasibility study on the Nolans project, which was expected during the third quarter of 2013.