Songwe Hill mineral resource up 60%

The measured and indicated mineral resource at Mkango Resources’ Songwe Hill Rare Earths project in the country has increased by about 60 percent to 21 million tonnes.

According to Mining Weekly, about 95 percent of the measured and indicated mineral resource blocks are less than 160 metres below the surface of the hill indicating that the majority will be accessible by open-pit mining, the miner said in a statement.

The firm said the updated and enlarged resource underpins Mkango’s strategy to be a long-term, sustainable producer of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium that are used in permanent magnet motors for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean technologies.

Mkango chief executive William Dawes said in the statement that all the objectives for the 2018 drill programme have been achieved and that the firm is pleased to announce this increased resource at Songwe.

“This provides a solid platform for completion of a revised mine plan to be incorporated into the feasibility study.

“Based on the larger measured and indicated resource, the feasibility study will evaluate opportunities to include more tonnes into the mine plan, expand operations, extend the mine life, reduce the strip ratio and therefore reduce mining costs,” he said. n