Latest news with #Lindian
West Australian
5 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Lindian puts the pedal down to develop Malawi rare earths project
Lindian Resources has made significant strides towards opening its flagship Kangankunde rare earths mine in Malawi. The company says it is running ahead of schedule, as it looks to swiftly bring the low-cost critical minerals project into production. Haul roads and a solar farm for the project are now underway and Lindian has filled five key positions to progress the site into its next development phase. The mammoth Kangankunde project is progressing at an accelerated pace, despite continuing rare earths price weakness. Fortunately for the development, the project's low-cost operations should make it profitable independent of price. The company says its main access road has been completed ahead of schedule and the haul roads for pit one and pit two are under construction. The process plant area has been fully cleared, with rebar foundations laid and the first major concrete poured. A custom solar farm to reduce diesel dependency is advancing, with foundations set and completion targeted in under a month. Concurrently, a site security compound with fencing and access controls is nearly finished to ensure robust operational security. Lindian still needs to sign some key contracts, including for design and construction, mining and power infrastructure. It has shortlisted three preferred tenderers for each. The company has also hired a seasoned site leadership team, under construction manager Daniel Britz. It includes a senior process engineer to optimise the gravity-magnetic flowsheet, a construction superintendent, a project planner and a QA/QC superintendent. The company says the appointees bring extensive expertise in African mining projects. The Kangankunde deposit has a world-class 261-million-tonne resource, going 2.19 per cent total rare earth oxide (TREO) and an ore reserve of 23Mt. The reserve grade comes in at an impressive 2.9 per cent TREO. Importantly, almost 20 per cent of that comprises the more lucrative magnet rare earths, neodymium and praseodymium. Kangankunde's economic fundamentals are compelling. With a minimal US$40 million (A$61.52M) pre-production capex and operating costs of just US$2.92 per kilogram TREO, it is placed in the lowest cost quartile globally. The project's 55 per cent TREO monazite concentrate meets stringent Western market requirements. The company says it still has a slew of financing proposals from which to choose, including from leading African and European commercial and investment banks, to fund construction. A US$50 million offtake and funding term sheet with Gerald Group and a US$30M loan from Ecobank Malawi are advancing towards a final investment decision. With a low-risk flowsheet, strong ESG alignment through sustainable power and local employment, Lindian looks well-positioned to establish Kangankunde as a cornerstone rare earths supplier for the oncoming electrification revolution. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
28-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Lindian readies Kangankunde rare earths juggernaut with build, funding and offtake wheels turning
You don't see a lot of ASX juniors managing to simultaneously attract a global offtake partner, two funding suitors and a major contractor — all while already partway into site construction. But that's exactly where Lindian Resources finds itself as it barrels towards development of its massive Kangankunde rare earths project in project isn't just shaping up to be big — it's shaping up to be rare earth monazite concentrate clocks in at 55 per cent total rare earth oxides, with little to no deleterious elements, almost no uranium or thorium and low iron — giving it an almost freakish level of purity that opens doors most others can't unlock. That means access to high-paying Western buyers who simply can't — or won't — touch concentrates with high radioactivity or impurity purity, combined with scale, grade and simplicity, is putting Lindian firmly on the radar of end users, financiers and fund managers project boasts a whopping JORC-compliant resource of 261 million tonnes going 2.19 per cent TREO and an ore reserve of 23 million tonnes. That reserve grade comes in at an impressive 2.9 per cent TREO and importantly, almost 20 per cent of that is the more lucrative magnet rare earths used in electric motors, neodymium and praseodymium. All that is expected to bring about more than 15,000 tonnes a year of contained rare earths concentrate, of which 1,600 tonnes per annum will be sought-after neodymium and praseodymium. Two standout diamond drill holes — one going a crazy 920m at 2.6 per cent TREO and another stretching 910m at 2.9 per cent TREO — underscore the deposit's extraordinary vertical consistency and underline its almost non-existent stripping ratio of just company has already locked in a US$50 million offtake and funding term sheet with global commodities house Gerald Group, giving Gerald rights over all Stage 1 production and a partial look at Stage 2. And while that agreement remains in play, the board is also fielding multiple alternative offers — including a US$30 million senior secured loan from pan-African lender Ecobank and a Nordic-style bond package from a European investment bank. Several offtake prepayment proposals are also under says it will shortlist the preferred funding option in the coming weeks as it finalises its mining development agreement with the Malawian Government and heads towards a final investment decision. Stage 1 is scheduled for first production in 2026, with the aim of capturing early cashflow while the global NdPr magnet supply chain looks for diversification outside the numbers stack capex for the 45-year project – and that's just stage 1 - is estimated to be a miserly US$40 million, with opex of US$2.92/kg REO putting it in the lowest cost quartile globally. In fact, Lindian says it will still wash its face with about US$11m in EBITDA a year even at today's depressed rare earths prices, which are generally expected to head north as the market tightens. Notably, independent market research group Project Blue says it expects rare earths pricing to range between US$50kg and US$115kg. When using a scaled range of this pricing forecast, Lindian says the project will earn its pants off with a pre-tax NPV of US$794 million and an IRR of 99 per cent. The company has modeled an annual EBITDA in the first five years of US$57m a year and an average over the entire life of mine of US$83m a year – not bad for a project expected to cost around US$40m to build. And with drill intersections mineralised all the way down to about 1km it is perhaps no surprise that Lindian says the project has an intergenerational 45-year mine life. It's a textbook case of mining made simple too. The flowsheet is gravity and magnetic only — no flotation, no reagents, no waste dams. Ore is trucked just 2km from pit to ROM pad and processed into a saleable monazite concentrate — making for fast permitting, low environmental impact and minimal technical risk. One reason for the super low cost to produce is the almost non-existent stripping ratio at the project, which clocks in at just that simplicity has already started to show on the began in February with Portuguese infrastructure heavyweight Mota-Engil winning a US$1.3m contract to build the 5km site access road. That work is now ahead of schedule and under budget. Lindian has since completed clearing for the processing plant, product storage areas, ROM pad and security fencing. It's also refurbished the onsite admin centre and built a new community police than 70 per cent of site-based roles are already filled by local Malawians, with the company rolling out training programs to deepen workforce capacity ahead of production. New site leadership and technical appointments — including project director Daniel Britz and finance chief Teck Lim — have strengthened the execution most significantly, testwork is already underway with ANSTO — Australia's national nuclear and critical minerals laboratory — to produce a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) product from Kangankunde concentrate using both acid bake and caustic cracking flowsheets. The goal is to lock in product specifications, enable certificates of analysis, and unlock binding offtake MREC route would allow Lindian to push further downstream and claim more value, while the concentrate's ultra-low Actinium-227 levels would avoid the radioactive penalty pricing or outright rejection that dogs many Chinese and African monazite an edge few other REE juniors can Lindian has now completed an optimised feasibility study — incorporating updated plant design, equipment quotes, mine scheduling and tailings options — and is finalising negotiations with three shortlisted EPC contractors. A D&C contract award is expected as soon as funding is locked company has also begun converting exploration tenements surrounding the main mining lease into full mining licences — paving the way for a Stage 2 expansion, which could triple output using the same gravity several clay-hosted rare earths hopefuls on the ASX chase lower-grade ionic mineralisation, Lindian's Kangankunde stands alone for its combination of grade, thickness and simplicity — and in a hard rock setting, no executive chairman Robert Martin says the interest from financiers and offtakers is a sign the market sees the difference Kangankunde brings. 'We're seeing the calibre of groups approaching us go up dramatically — not just in terms of financing offers, but also potential downstream partners. The project's purity, simplicity and economics are hard to ignore.' There's still work to do before Lindian joins the rare earths producers' club — but few juniors in recent years have made it to this point with the funding, construction, product and political wheels all moving in unison - Kangankunde just might. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Men face serious penalties after being caught red-handed at protected rare earth site: 'A serious breach of site security'
With rare earth deposits foregrounding many a geopolitical discussion these days, countries are doing their best to protect and maximize their reserves. Recently, Malawi police arrested two Chinese nationals found trespassing and performing "unauthorized geological sampling" on the site of Malawi's Kangankunde Rare Earths Project. Rare earth elements are crucial to supporting growth in clean energy industries, from wind turbines to electric vehicles to smartphone manufacturing. The developing Project Kangankunde, managed by the Australian Lindian Resources, intends to establish a rare earth mining and processing front at one of the world's largest deposit sites near the city of Blantyre, Malawi. Preliminary work on the Project began only a few weeks ago. According to an Investing News Network report on the incident involved two Chinese nationals attempting to bypass Lindian Resources security barriers with the help of unmapped haul roads and two Malawian guides. Security apprehended the intruders within hours, per local villagers. "Lindian considers this a serious breach of site security and a concerning act of industrial trespass, particularly given the strategic nature of the Kangankunde asset," Lindian Resources said in a press release obtained by Investing News Network. The company's executive chairman, Robert Martin, said Lindian "takes site safety and security extremely seriously, especially with pre construction works well underway" and that "to find foreign nationals on an active unmapped haul road allegedly taking geological samples is concerning specifically with the current geopolitical nature of the rare earths market." As rare earth elements increasingly become a point of geopolitical contention, mining and processing efforts may become more extreme. In addition to providing fuel to potential international conflicts, such invasive mining procedures yield dust and other contaminants and may take their toll on nearby ecosystems, noted the Harvard International Review. While rare earth elements are used in clean energy technologies, it's possible the environmental impact of the initial extraction may work counter to at least some of these benefits. "This is the third time Chinese nationals have done this," said one local community leader, James Makanga, according to the Malawi Voice. "Their actions are beginning to raise alarm to us as members of the community." Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely Only in some areas Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
West Australian
14-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Big players line up to fund Lindian rare earths mine
Rare earths developer Lindian Resources is juggling a slew of financing proposals from leading African and European commercial and investment banks to fund construction of its world-class Kangankunde hard rock rare earths project in Malawi. The company says it is riding a wave of financial momentum, with multiple funding proposals to bankroll Kangankunde's Stage 1 development. One standout non-binding proposal involves a US$30 million loan from Ecobank Malawi and another proposal involves a US$30M – US$40M secured debt/equity bond from a leading European investment bank. Another US$50M proposal from Gerald group dates back to last December and the company also has a number of offtake prepayment proposals from numerous commodity traders. The latest offer from Malawi's Ecobank includes a five-year pledge to act as mandated lead financier, with other commercial banks apparently circling for a syndicated deal. The support of Ecobank underscores Malawi's rising status as a growing mining jurisdiction for global investment and critical minerals supply. A leading European investment bank has tossed its hat in the ring with a Nordic-style bond, targeting a 60:40 debt-to-equity split for up to US$40M over five-years. Lindian says the bond is tailor made for upstream projects like Kangankunde, promising flexibility for construction costs. The company's existing US$50M non-binding term sheet with Gerald Group, to lock up the remaining 60 per cent of monazite product for a full offtake right to Stage 1, remains a solid contender too. Lindian's board will now sift through all of the proposals with a view to locking one in for its final investment decision. An optimised feasibility study for Kangankunde is also nearing completion and is set to wrap up in late June and will look to build on last year's blockbuster numbers. The project shows around 23.7-million-tonnes in reserve grading a weighty 2.9 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), placing it in rarified air on the global rare earths stage. Stage 1 is set to churn out 15,300t of premium 55 per cent TREO monazite concentrate annually for a massive 45 years, pegging a post-tax net present value at Kangankunde of some US$555 million, despite seriously depressed rare earths prices since 2023 that many believe will eventually move skywards. At a lean US$40 million pre-production capex and a miniscule US$2.92/kg TREO operating cost, the project is expected to pay for itself in under two years according to Lindian. Management says the preconstruction works are now in full swing on the ground in Malawi including the company's 5km access road that is expected to be delivered ahead of schedule and under budget. That road will allow construction crews to tackle run-of-mine (ROM) pad earthworks, storage facilities and security yards, shaving precious time and costs off the schedule. With 40 per cent of Stage 1 production already locked in under binding offtake terms with Gerald Group, production is slated for mid-2026, with the bidding process heating up for the remaining 60 per cent. Management also notes that joint venture discussions in the US and CIS countries are gaining traction, aligning with Presidential executive orders and Western efforts to diversify critical mineral supply chains. With a treasure trove of financing options, construction milestones and a low-cost foothold in the global rare earths market, Lindian is charging towards becoming a global rare earths supplier in 2026. Kangankunde's sky-high grade and dirt-cheap costs make it a first-class alternative to Chinese rare earths production as the West clamours for strategic rare earths alternative suppliers . Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lindian Resources secures full ownership of Lelouma Bauxite project in Guinea
Lindian Resources has finalised a binding share purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire the remaining 25% interest in Bauxite Holding from its minority partners, securing full ownership of the Lelouma Bauxite project in Guinea. The Lelouma project, with more than $10m invested by previous owners, is located near significant infrastructure including a railway line and the Kamsar port. The project has a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 900 million tonnes (mt) at 45% aluminium oxide and 2.1% silicon dioxide. The Lelouma project targets the production of direct shipping ore (DSO), eliminating the need for processing. Full ownership of the project removes the risk of ownership dilution and financial commitments associated with the initial acquisition. Lindian will implement a new in-country management team to handle regulatory approvals, project development, and negotiations with potential port and infrastructure partners. Following a strategic review and two months of negotiations, Lindian and its minority partners have agreed on the SPA, which includes issuing 20 million consideration shares and a 1% royalty to the sellers. These shares will be in voluntary escrow for six months post-issue. The SPA's completion is expected within 14 days from signing, allowing Lindian to focus on the project without previous conditions. Lindian Resources executive chairman Robert Martin said: 'The company is pleased to have resecured 100% ownership of this world class asset, we can now invest in the project's continued development unencumbered without time constraints, multimillion dollar milestone caveats and minority partners. 'With rising demand for aluminium and its related products in electric vehicle production with a market that is estimated to reach ~$18.5bn by 2030, the company believes that the Lelouma project with approximately 900mt of high-grade material can be a big part of this. 'The company is also in discussions with a new in-country bauxite team of experts to work independently on developing the Lelouma project, which allows the company to remain completely focused on our commitment to bringing our Kangankunde rare earths project into production by 2026.' Earlier this month, Lindian Resources commenced early-stage site works at the Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi. "Lindian Resources secures full ownership of Lelouma Bauxite project in Guinea" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
