Kayelekera licenses renewed

14th September 2021 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Malawi government has renewed the mining and exploration licences for the Kayelekera uranium project.

ASX-listed Lotus Resources on Tuesday told shareholders that the mining licence had been renewed for a period of 15 years.

“We are delighted to have received an extension of our mining licence for an additional 15 years. This is a critical step, as it provides certainty and confidence to our investors that Lotus has the full backing of the government to continue our on-going development of Kayelekera, as we position the project to be one of the first assets to recommence production in an ever-improving uranium price environment,” said Lotus MD Keith Bowes.

“It is important to highlight that a restart of operations also provides significant benefits to the local communities and Malawi as a whole through employment, development of local communities, taxes, royalty streams and profit share to the government of Malawi, which is a 15% owner of the project,” he added.

Lotus holds an 85% interest in the Kayelekera project, which hosts a resource of 37.5-million pounds of uranium oxide, and has historically produced some 11-million pounds of uranium between 2009 and 2014.