Canada-listed Mkango Resources says exploratory drilling at its Songwe Hill rare earths project, in the southern Malawi district of Phalombe, has indicated that the resource is sufficient to sustain a 20-year operating life.

The drilling campaign showed that the resource, calculated at a 1% total rare- earth oxide cutoff, is in the order of 13.2- million tons, grading 1.62%, while the inferred resource is estimated at 18.6-million tons, grading 1.38%.

The company states that the bulk of the resource occurs at depths of less than 200 m and that the mineralised zones are untested at depths greater than 350 m below the surface.

CEO William Dawes explains that the drilling results “are significantly above initial expectations . . . [and] provide a strong platform for accelerated development of the project in what is becoming one of Africa’s major emerging rare earths mineral provinces”.

He reports that scoping and metallurgical work on the samples are being undertaken by South Africa’s Mintek.

Mkango cofounder and president Alexander Lemon comments that the firm is determined to pursue the project not only because of the encouraging results but also because of the support the company has received from the government and people of Malawi.

“Malawi’s favourable political backdrop, its excellent geological potential and improving infrastructure, including major rail, road and power developments, together with the continued support of the government of Malawi and its Ministry of Energy and Mines and of the Songwe community pro- vide a very strong basis for the development of this important mineral resource and for Mkango’s continued growth in the region,” he says.

Rare earths, which are in high demand on the world market, comprise 17 metals used mostly in high-tech products like electric car batteries, smartphones and wind turbines.