Lindian triples rare earths mining area at huge Malawi project
In a further positive step forward in the company's plans to supercharge its stage-two expansion of the world-class rare earths project, Malawi's Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority approved Lindian's application to expand its mining licence area to 2500 hectares (ha), up from 900ha.
The achievement comes hot on the heels of Lindian's recent deal for a massive offtake agreement and potential cornerstone funding with critical mineral powerhouse and ASX-listed Iluka Resources, which has a current market value of more than $2.5 billion.
Lindian management says the expanded mining footprint will bolster a targeted stage one production output of 15,300 dry metric tonnes per annum (tpa) of monazite concentrate up to a possible 75,000tpa to 100,000tpa.
It cautions the potentially massive jump in output is not a forecast or production target, but is based on the huge increase in mineable land it can sink its mining teeth into.
'This will also allow Lindian to capitalise on our ability to be the next rare earth producer to market.'
Lindian Resources executive chairman Robert Martin
The globally significant Kangankunde rare earths project has a JORC-compliant 261-million-tonne mineral resource and an initial life-of-mine of 45 years.
Expansion of the mining licence area provides Lindian with the regulatory backing to explore the options to substantially boost its production capacity by scaling up operations and developing critical project infrastructure.
The company plans to target its stage two modular expansion in parallel with the project's stage one processing plant development.
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