Ngualla Rare Earth Project, Tanzania
Our Ngualla Rare Earth Project in Tanzania contains one of the largest, highest grade and lowest cost Neodymium Praseodymium (NdPr) rare earth deposits in the world.
Large high-grade Reserves and Resources supporting a low cost and potentially multi-generation project
The Ngualla Project is a world-class rare earth development located near the Ngwala Village and approximately 150km from the City of Mbeya in the Songwe Region and on the edge of the East African Rift Valley.
The project entails the construction of a mine, mill, concentrator, community projects and associated infrastructure. Construction of the project is expected to cost approximately US$320 million and create around 600 and 3,000 indirect jobs during construction and around 220 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs during operations.
Significant beneficiation and value-adding will be undertaken in Tanzania with ore with a grade of around 4.8% REO being beneficiated into a 45% REO high-grade concentrate. This high-grade rare earth concentrate will be initially be sold as a standalone product, while the study of downstream integration opportunities is undertaken in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania.
Location:
Tanzania (~1,000km west of Dar es Salaam and ~150km
from Mbeya)
Geology:
Weathered carbonatite with a high-grade bastnasite-rich zone, low in acid consuming elements and radionuclides
Ore Reserves:
18.5Mt grading 4.80% REO for 887kt REO
Mineral Resources:
214.4Mt grading 2.15% REO for 4.61Mt REO
Resources
Life of Mine:
+20 years (covering only Ore Reserves)
Mining:
Open Pit with low strip ratio of 1.77
ROM Throughput:
800ktpa dry ore
Annual Production:
37.2ktpa of concentrate (45% TREO grade)
Environmental Certificate:
Received March 2017
Mining License:
SML application approved by Tanzanian Cabinet
World-class project … Ngualla’s potential to become a multi-commodity project
Ngualla is also host to widespread, high grade niobium-tantalum, phosphate, fluorspar and barite mineralisation. These additional commodities are at an early stage of evaluation and represent potential upside opportunities for additional products from the project.
Tanzania is politically stable and has a well-established mining culture, being the fourth largest gold producer in Africa. Existing transport infrastructure together with a low tonnage, high value product will enable cost effective transport from Ngualla to the deep water port in Dar es Salaam.
