Name of the Project
Longonjo rare earths mine/refinery project.

Location
Longonjo municipality, Huambo province, Angola. The project is close to the Lobito Corridor rail line, which provides access to the Atlantic Port of Lobito.

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

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

Project Description
Pensana has delineated a near-surface Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant Stage 1 ore reserve of 22-million tonnes grading 3.04% total rare-earth oxides, containing 139 457 t of neodymium/praseodymium oxide and 3 689 t of dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide. The reserve supports a mine life of more than 20 years, based on near-surface resources, with Pensana targeting the potential expansion of the resource base to more than one-billion tonnes through a forthcoming drilling programme.

The mine execution plan is based on staged development of the mine and processing facilities. The Stage 1 design basis is 850 000 t/y run-of-mine throughput. The operation will mine near-surface, predominantly free-dig carbonatite material through an openpit operation and extract, concentrate, calcine and chemically refine the material to produce a high-value mixed rare-earth carbonate (MREC).

Initial production is planned at 20 000 t/y of clean MREC, including light rare-earth elements (REEs) and REEs. A proposed second-phase expansion is expected to increase production to 40 000 t/y of MREC from about Year 4, or about 2029, once initial operations have been established.

The project under development comprises an openpit, concentrator and recovery plants, a tailings storage facility, process water supply, bulk power supply, mine infrastructure, workshops, offices, an accommodation village, recreational facilities and associated infrastructure. MREC product will be railed about 273 km to the Port of Lobito for export.

Pensana is separately optimising the process design of its previously engineered Saltend separation facility into modular processing trains, with the aim of deploying the engineering and intellectual property in the most operationally and commercially suitable location. The optimised downstream design is expected to include heavy rare-earth separation and metal conversion capability, with the objective of supplying magnet manufacturers directly.

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to create 600 high-value jobs, of which more than 50% are expected to be allocated to young people.
Once in full production, the project will create an estimated 2 400 direct and indirect jobs.
The workforce is expected to increase towards a peak of about 750 personnel in 2026.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Pensana reported in June 2026 that the Longonjo development had total capital expenditure of $250-million, of which about $36-million had been spent on direct mine and processing plant development costs and about $135-million had been committed under the procurement schedule.

Planned Start/End Date
Main construction started in May 2025. First MREC commissioning remains targeted for 2027, with initial production of 20 000 t/y of MREC. Expansion to 40 000 t/y of MREC is planned from about Year 4, or about 2029, once initial operations have been established.

Latest Developments
Pensana reported on June 8, 2026, that the $250-million Longonjo development remained on target and on budget for first MREC commissioning in 2027. Main construction is 22% complete. The major site earthworks, geotechnical, drilling and test-piling programmes have been completed, and the on-site concrete batch and aggregate plants have been commissioned.

Long-lead process equipment procurement is well advanced. The sulphuric acid plant, being supplied by Clark Solutions, is about 50% complete and ahead of schedule, while the NCP ball mill is complete. The flash dryer and mixer, from Ingetecsa, are 56% and 69% complete respectively, while the Drytech calciner is 69% complete. Detailed engineering by Pro-Process and Lycopodium is more than 40% complete.

A heavy REE recovery circuit optimisation is under way alongside the primary MREC process plant.  Technical studies indicate that the current MREC product, which contains about 30 t/y of heavy rare-earth oxides, can be upgraded to contain up to 122 t/y of dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide, in addition to a higher proportion of samarium, europium and gadolinium products than initially anticipated. Capital and operating cost studies for the circuit are being finalised.

Pensana has launched an expanded drilling programme to expand Longonjo's resource inventory, with the aim of strengthening its position among the world's largest rare earth mines.

The downstream strategy is being re-engineered around modular separation and metal conversion. Pensana is optimising the previously engineered Saltend separation facility into scalable modular processing trains, including a dedicated heavy rare earth separation circuit and metal conversion capability. Under the EU Horizon Europe PerMaNet Programme, grant-backed work is expected to link rare earth separation directly to metal conversion, with first integrated output targeted for 2028.

Pensana's offtake framework includes nonbinding agreements with Toyota Tsusho for up to 20 000 t/y of MREC over five years, ReElement Technologies for potential US processing, and VAC/eVAC Magnetics for a US mine-to-magnet supply chain. An undisclosed European customer has also been identified for 10 000 t/y of MREC over five years. Pensana says its current memorandum of understanding pipeline has the potential to cover up to 100% of initial

Phase 1 production, with significant interest also confirmed for Phase 2 production.

A major potential customer has formally approved the product qualification specifications for Longonjo MREC, confirming its suitability for downstream separation processes.

The US mine-to-magnet strategy is supported by a $165-million strategic investment from Cascade Natural Resources, which has been revised and remains subject to finalisation of long-form documentation. Pensana also refers to a proposed $160-million Absa debt financing package, guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the US, to support Longonjo construction. The FSDEA-funded early works programme was concluded in 2025, with the final tranche of a $25-million equity facility received by Ozango Minerais and deployed towards main construction activities.

Pensana is also evaluating a potential Nasdaq dual listing to broaden access to US institutional capital.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Clark Solutions (sulphuric acid plant); NCP (ball mill); Ingetecsa (flash dryer and mixer); Drytech (calciner); Pro-Process Engineering and Lycopodium (detailed engineering); Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis consortium (Lobito Corridor rail concession); Toyota Tsusho, ReElement Technologies and VAC/eVAC Magnetics (offtake and downstream/mine-to-magnet partners); Cascade Natural Resources (strategic investment); Absa (proposed debt financing); US EXIM (guarantee support); and FSDEA (construction finance partner).

Contact Details for Project Information
Pensana, email admin@pensana.co.uk or email IR@pensana.co.uk.