Lindian Resources (ASX: LIN) hands Chinese pair over to police
Security guards employed by Lindian apprehended the two Chinese men with two local guides at Lindian's Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi.
The Chinese pair were handed over to police for questioning and charged. It is understood they were held in custody for 24 hours and then released on bail over the Easter break. They were due to appear in court on Tuesday.
The incident comes with the US and China trading blows over the supply of strategically important rare earths used in military applications and in key industries like renewables and technology.
Kangankunde is touted as one of the world's biggest high-grade rare earths deposits with low levels of impurities and radioactive minerals.
Lindian has estimated it will cost just $US40m to bring the fully–permitted project, about 90 kilometres north of the city of Blantyre, into production. The first stage has a mine life of 45 years based on current estimates of the ore body and Lindian is proposing low-cost dry processing given the low levels of thorium and uranium in the deposit.
An image captured by security at the Lindian Resources rare earths project in Malawi.
In an incident report seen by The Australian, Lindian security supervisor Remmie Maseketsa said the four men had been detained on Thursday in a forest area well inside the boundaries of the Kangankunde mining lease.
He said two of the men identified themselves as employees of a Chinese mining company. One of the Malawians was an interpreter and the other a mining consultant and long-time government employee.
Police inspected the site before charging the Chinese and confiscating their passports.
Mr Maseketsa said they had driven past 'no entry' signs and inside the Lindian-controlled perimeter.
The company employs 14 full-time security guards and has been on high alert after a similar incident involving unauthorised access by Chinese mining interests.
The Lindian security team has recommended installing boom gates at all roads leading into the lease area and stepping up patrols in the wake of the latest incursion.
In the previous incident, geological samples were taken and the people apprehended were charged, but left Malawi before facing court.
Lindian executive chairman Rob Martin spent the first week of March in Washington for talks about the future of the Kangankunde project.
'With the rising tensions between the US and China, we are not surprised with what occurred over the weekend,' he said.
'Kangankunde is one of the most strategic undeveloped rare earth assets in the world, with both countries understanding the significance of this project and what it will do when it comes online in 2026.
'The deposit has the potential to shift the balance of global supply and that makes it a potential disrupter to the current status quo.'
China dominates global rare earths supply and has imposed export restrictions as part of an escalating trade war with Donald Trump's White House. The bans apply to permanent magnets that contain heavy rare earths crucial in guided missiles and jet fighters as well as in robotics.
Mr Martin said Lindian took site safety and security extremely seriously: 'To find foreign nationals on an active unmapped haul road... is concerning,' he said.
'We applaud the Malawian government and the local authorities for their support and prompt action on this matter.'
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