JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim- and TSX-V-listed Mkango Resources has been granted an exclusive prospecting licence covering the 98.48 km Chimimbe Hill nickel/cobalt deposit in central Malawi.
With magnetic anomalies in the licence area indicating exploration potential for additional nickel/cobalt mineralisation, Mkango aims to re-evaluate the Chimimbe Hill deposit with its new three-year licence allowing for exploration of nickel, cobalt, graphite, chrome and other minerals.
Funded through the company's existing working capital, which is about $869 479 as at September 30, the new evaluations will be undertaken in the context of geophysical data produced by the recent World Bank airborne geophysical survey of Malawi, recent infrastructure developments in the region and potential synergies with Mkango’s Songwe Hill rare earths project and Thambani uranium/tantalum/niobium project, both in Malawi.
“This new licence, when combined with the Songwe Hill rare earths project and our collaboration with Metalysis on neodymium alloys for permanent magnets, positions Mkango as a potential future supplier of the critical raw materials used in both batteries and permanent magnet motors in electric vehicles,” said Mkango president Alexander Lemon.
The company is embarking on a full historical data review for Chimimbe Hill, including an evaluation of exploration potential from the recent geophysics.
The licence can be renewed twice for further two-year periods with a 50% reduction in the licence size with each renewal.