GCIAltona Rare Earths soars as it enters MoU to acquire rare earths project
Shares in (ANR ) soared this morning following its announcement that it has entered into an MoU to acquire up to 70% in the Monte Muambe Rare Earths Project.
The mining exploration firm has entered into the MoU with Ussokoti Investimetos Limitada to start a legal and technical due diligence period of 90 days with a view to acquiring up to a 70% interest in the Monte Muambe Rare Earths Project, via an earn-in arrangement.
The project is located in a province of Mozambique home to several operating coal mines, a major iron mining and steel manufacturing project, as well as other exploration projects.
The tenement covers a 4km diameter circular carbonatite intrusion and is located in Tete Province, Northwestern Mozambique, held by Ussokoti under Prospecting Licence 7573L.
The Tete Province has ample power supply with the presence of the 2GW Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power plant and an advanced stage 300MW coal-fired power station project.
The company said the project has seen previous exploration for the mineral fluorspar, between 2010 and 2012, including 165 reverse circulation drillholes totaling over 12,000m.
Drill holes intersected REE mineralisation in at least four different zones within the intrusion, all of which are open in several directions. Altona said about 5% of the surface area of the intrusion have been drilled so far leaving ‘significant potential for discoveries.’
To date, available data from the project has indicated that REE mineralisation is at least partly bastnaesite-hosted, and that individual REE intercept grades reach up to 4.1%.
Altona said previous exploration work has identified significant intercepts including REE occurrences with grades and thicknesses. As a result, it said the project has the potential to host a REE deposit amenable to open pit mining and that this justifies further assessment.
The Company informed investors that initial exploration work will focus on expanding the mineralised zones and identifying new ones, while ascertaining the basic metallurgical characteristics of the ore, a process which is considered essential for REE projects.
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, CEO of Altona Rare Earths, stated, "This project would become a significant step for Altona, as it would represent our first venture into a carbonatite hosted REE asset, should we proceed with the investment following the due diligence.
The company told investors that its Africa-based Director and geologist, Cedric Simonet, has ranked the Monte Muambe rare earths projects as ‘one of the top carbonatite-hosted REE projects available for acquisition in Africa,’ which is located in ‘a mining friendly jurisdiction.’
“The board therefore considers that, should exploration results confirm the potential we envisage, it could ultimately become a major contributor to the supply of rare earth metals for the global technology and green energy markets,” added Taylor-Wilkinson.
Today’s news provides investors further confidence ANR can become a significant producer of rare earth metals within Africa over the next few years.
Should Altona choose to proceed with the investment following the 90-day due diligence period, the project will represent its first venture into a carbonatite hosted REE asset.
Altona is operating within the rare earth metals sector, which is among the fastest growing mining industries, with technology metals amongst the most in-demand elements globally. A statistic is only likely to grow as the world moves towards being more environmentally conscious with more players starting to fulfil its "green" potential.
Reasons to ANR
Altona Rare Earths is a dual-listed mining exploration company which is focused on the evaluation, rapid development and extraction of Rare Earth Element (REE) metals in Africa.
During the year to 31 June 2020, Altona closed a significant 15-year chapter on its Australian coal exploration activities and opened the door onto its new Rare Earth Metals mining strategy, which it believes “has far greater relevance for the world in the 21st Century.”
The past two years has seen a major global shift in the mind-set of rare earth metals end-users, these being primarily the manufacturers of, inter alia, high-strength permanent magnets for the electric vehicle market, military hardware and green power sectors.
Presently, China controls between 90-95% of the supply chain and crucially, also controls the refining and processing sectors, creating a worldwide bottleneck. It also controls more than 70% of EV battery manufacturing, which means a rise in cost of vehicles due to inflated REE prices could cause a significant delay to one of the world's major "Green Solutions".
Global governments are becoming increasingly aware that to increase the numbers of cars on the road, vehicles must be priced suitably. Since there are no viable alternatives to provide the huge quantities of the technology metals, REE mining firms are turning to Africa.
In theory, the company stated that rare earths mining companies in Africa could develop and start supplying Technology Metals to the world's green industries in under three years.
The Company believes it is now poised at the juncture of a significant opportunity within the rare earth metals sector which the group hopes to capitalise during this year and beyond.
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