Name of the Project
Longonjo neodymium/praseodymium project.

Location
Huambo, Angola – 4 km from a modern rail line leading directly into the Port of Lobito in the Atlantic Ocean.

Project Owner/s
Pensana Rare Earths holds an 84% interest in Longonjo through its 84% holding in Angola-registered company Ozango Minerais, which, in turn, owns 100% of the mining licence.

The Angolan government holds a 10% interest and the company’s Angolan partners the remaining 6%.

Project Description
Longonjo is one of the biggest rare earths deposits in the world, with an initial 20-year mine life.

The project has total proven and probable reserves of 30.1-million tonnes grading 0.55% neodymium/praseodymium oxide for 166 000 t neodymium/praseodymium and total rare-earth oxides (TREOs) of 767 000 t.

The mine execution plan is based on a staged development of the mine and processing facilities.

At full production, once the phased development is complete, the Longonjo mine will target production of up to 38 000 t/y of mixed rare-earth double sulphate or mixed rare-earth carbonate (MREC) containing 14 000 t of TREOs and up to 4 400 t of neodymium/praseodymium oxides. This equates to about 5% of the worldwide production of neodymium/praseodymium oxides a year for downstream processing or to be sold on the international market.

Initial feedstock will be shipped as a clean, high-purity mixed rare earth sulphate to Pensana’s Saltend rare earth oxide separation facility, in the UK.

Potential Job Creation
The mine will employ about 650 people during construction and will create 420 permanent, high-value jobs.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital costs are estimated at $217-million, including contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
Longonjo is expected to produce 20 000 t of MREC starting in 2026 and 40 000 t of MREC from 2029 onwards following the planned expansion.

Latest Developments
Pensana has concluded a nonbinding term sheet with the Longonjo lender consortium for a project finance debt facility of up to $156-million.

The facility is aimed at providing limited recourse senior secured project finance to fund the Longonjo mine, flotation circuit and refinery.

The maximum tenor of the facility is to cover the construction period and ramp-up to full production, plus four years to an overall maximum of seven years. The facility is conditional on obtaining guarantees from the relevant export credit agency, for which discussions are well advanced.

The company is in advanced discussions with the Angola Sovereign Wealth Fund, or FSDEA, and a member of the lender consortium to finalise the $80-million equity component of the overall financing package.

Meanwhile, Pensana is in advanced discussions with several parties for the offtake of the “highly marketable”, radionuclide-free MREC and has recently received product approval from one of its potential customers.

The company expects to be in a position to sign up to 100% of the production of the high value, clean MREC from the Longonjo processing facility.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
ADP (main contractor); and MCC (main construction).

Contact Details for Project Information
Pensana Rare Earths, email admin@pensana.co.uk orir@pensana.co.uk.