ASX-listed AuKing Mining plans to acquire a 100% interest in the Machinga heavy rare earth elements project in southern Malawi.

This acquisition provides AuKing with an additional rare earth project in the African country at an opportune time as rare earths, particularly dysprosium and terbium, gain increasing strategic interest in the US and globally amid efforts to strengthen resilient, diversified supply chains for critical minerals.

The proposed acquisition uses a staged payment structure in that a non-refundable A$5 000 cash exclusivity payment was made to secure a 40-day window, during which all legal due diligence, ASX approvals and final documentation were successfully completed.

Upon final completion of the deal, AuKing will issue three separate considerations - A$750 000 in cash; A$750 000 in ordinary shares, which equates to 30-million shares priced at $0.025 each; and A$1.25-million in milestone-based performance shares, equating to 50-million shares priced at $0.025 each.

Situated within the Mesozoic Chilwa Alkaline province, the Machinga project comprises two exploration licences, namely EL 0529 and EL 0705, covering about 200.4 km².

AuKing highlights that mineralisation at Machinga has been defined over a strike length of 2 km and comprises niobium, tantalum, zirconium, uranium and rare earth element (REE) anomalies.

Additionally, the company notes that REE mineralisation is hosted within eudialyte, a zirconosilicate mineral characteristically associated with peralkaline magmatic complexes such as those within the Zomba-Malosa pluton and the surrounding Chilwa Alkaline Province.

“The proposed acquisition of the Machinga heavy rare earths project represents another important step in AuKing’s strategy to build a portfolio of high-quality critical minerals projects in Malawi.

"Historical exploration, together with the more recent work undertaken by DY6 Metals/Tusker Minerals, has confirmed Machinga as a highly prospective heavy rare earth and niobium project. With near-surface heavy rare earth oxides results from that 2023 drilling reported in the order of 30% and bearing the similar peralkaline geology, Machinga has the potential to become comparable to the large Strange Lake and Bokan Mountain REE deposits in North America,” says AuKing MD Paul Williams.

The company notes that previous drilling primarily focused on the north-east region of the Machinga main northern anomaly close to the licence border, with rock chip results indicating that significant potential exists for further drilling to the west and south of the initial focus area of drilling activity.

AuKing explains that it intends to start exploration activities following the completion of the project acquisition and initial work will focus on integrating the extensive historical drilling, geochemical and radiometric datasets with drone-based magnetic and light detection and ranging surveys to refine the structural controls on mineralisation and identify priority drill targets across this project.