The Zandkopsdrift rare earths project in South Africa’s endowed Northern Cape was highlighted on day two of the JuniorIndaba, which also learnt of the rapid forward momentum of West Wits Mining’s gold-bar producing Qala Shallows mine on the doorstep of Johannesburg, as well as the advance of Pensana’s rare earths project in Angola.

Frontier Rare Earths CEO and co-founder James Kenny declared the company’s Zandkopsdrift to be the lowest-cost producer of magnet rare earths and battery- grade manganese sulphate globally.

West Wits CFO Simon Whyte, one of only two non-South African employees of this Australia-listed gold mine, the other being its chairperson Michael Quinert, reported having 55 people in the owners’ team compared with ten last year and 450 people on site in Roodepoort.

“It still surprises people that we’ve got a seven-million-ounce project from surface here in the Witwatersrand basin,” said Whyte.

Pensana CEO Tim George outlined the beneficiation steps being taken in Angola, involving flotation followed by a hydrometallurgical process to end up with a mixed rare earth carbonate – “white powder with all of the rare earths still mixed up in it”. Part of Pensana’s journey is to develop the separation technology suitable for this particular deposit.

In answer to what rare earths were and why they were rare, Frontier’s Kenny displayed a slide showing China’s dominance of rare earths and battery-grade high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) being at the 85% to 90% level.

He pointed out rare earths at oxide level as a sub-$20-billion market and the overall industry that relies on rare earths for end-use applications at a colossal $4-trillion to $5-trillion.

Luxembourg-based Frontier Rare Earths has signed a technology supply agreement with rare earths separation specialist company Carester to work with Frontier on developing South Africa’s Zandkopsdrift rare earths and manganese project.

Additionally, South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has provided an investment of $20-million to finance a definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the project.

Carester owns proprietary rare earth solvent extraction technology that will enable the production of high-purity neodymium/praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, as well as mixed heavy rare earth carbonate (MHREC) at Zandkopsdrift.

The agreement between the companies includes a seven- year offtake arrangement for MHREC, which will be processed at Carester’s Lacq facility, in France.

IDC industry planning and project development executive Rian Coetzee has described the IDC’s investment in Frontier as reflecting the organisation’s mandate to support projects that advance Southern Africa’s industrialisation and critical minerals strategy.

The investment has afforded Frontier the option for the IDC to offtake up to 10% of production at prevailing market prices, subject to being used in further downstream processing in South Africa.

Zandkopsdrift is described as having strong fundamentals and the potential to support downstream beneficiation, job creation and long-term economic value.

The project’s DFS is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2027 following an updated prefeasibility on the project being completed last year.

First production is envisagedfrom 2030 along with a 25-year mine life. The study earmarks production of 3 038 t/y of NdPr oxide, 114 t/y of dysprosium oxide and 25 t/y of terbium oxide.

Zandkopsdrift has proven and probable reserves to support a 45-year mine life.

The project currently has an after-tax net present value estimation of $2-billion, an internal rate of return of 34% (ungeared) and 50% (geared) and an estimated yearly revenue potential of $727-million.

The manganese sector of the flowsheet will be modified to produce battery-grade HPMSM and battery-grade manganese tetroxide.