Kangankunde Mine reserves at 261m tonnes—report

Lindian Resources, an Australian mining firm, says its Kangankunde Rare Earth Project in Balaka District is now estimated at 261 million metric tonnes of ore following new results of drilling as it moves towards developing the mine.

This sets the reserves among the largest globally, positioning Malawi to become one of the largest producers of the critical resource in the technology space.

The firm’s chief executive officer Alistair Stephens said this reaffirms the project’s status as a top-tier asset that will deliver material benefits to Malawi, the local community, key stakeholders and their shareholders, adding that other milestones to be reported shortly will reinforce Kangankunde’s strategic value.

“We are pleased to deliver another key milestone central to our near-term goal of bringing the fully permitted Kangankunde project into production and establishing  this world class project as a dependable long-term supplier of rare earths concentrate to global markets,” he said.

Meanwhile, the firm said it is advancing towards development of the mine following permits that have been granted for the mining project.

Ministry of Mining Principal Secretary Joseph Mkandawire confirmed in an interview that the company was given all the permits required and expects construction of pilot mine soon.

He mentioned other mining projects that have advanced that include heavy mineral sands mine in Makanjira and a cement manufacturing plant all in Mangochi which are set to increase the mining industry contribution to the economy significant export earnings.

Mkandawire said: “We have made quite some progress in the areas of large-scale mining projects.

“There are several small- scale mining projects that are also on the ground, but perhaps what we need is to start exporting the minerals.”

Geological expert Grain Malunga said in an interview on Tuesday that there is need for government and the mining companies to reach common ground on benefits of the meneral resources as the issue is causing delays through protracted mining development agreements.

He said that a benefit ratio of 51-49 in favour of government is fair, but said government is demanding more in some cases, which is causing some delays to complete deals.

Malunga said there is need to make the country more attractive to mining investors as it is with other countries, saying Malawi stands to lose if the mineral resources are not exploited.

He said in the case where exploration of the minerals is done by the companies, it is only fair to ensure they recoup their investments and ensure they pay back the loans they obtain in financing preparatory stages of a mining projects.