LONDON: Altona Rare Earths has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ussokoti Investimetos Limitada to start a legal and technical Due Diligence period of 90 days with a view to acquiring up to 70% in the Monte Muambe Rare Earths Project, via an earn-in arrangement.
The tenement is located in Tete Province, Northwestern Mozambique, held by Ussokoti under Prospecting Licence 7573L. The licence covers a 4km diameter circular carbonatite intrusion.
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 Rare Earth Elements (“REE”) mineralisation in at least four different zones within the intrusion, all of which are open in several directions. Additionally, only about 5% of the surface area of the intrusion have been drilled so far, thus leaving significant potential for discoveries.
Available data indicate that REE mineralisation is at least partly bastnaesite-hosted, and that individual REE intercept grades reach up to 4.1%. Three significant intercepts have been reported:
- 49m at 2.51% Total Rare Earths Oxide (“TREO”) from the surface,
- 36m at 2.53% TREO from the surface, and
- 96 m at 2.2% TREO from surface,
These intercepts show that the project has the potential to host a REE deposit amenable to open pit mining. Initial exploration work will focus on expanding the mineralised zones and identifying new ones, while ascertaining the basic metallurgical characteristics of the ore, which is essential for REE projects.
The project is located in a province of Mozambique which hosts several operating coal mines, a major iron mining and steel manufacturing project, and many exploration projects for a wide range of commodities. The project area is easily accessible, 30km off a major tarred road linking Mozambique to Malawi. 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.
Mozambique is a stable country with a well-developed exploration and mining industry, trained workforce, and available drilling and exploration contractors.
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Altona Rare Earths, commented, “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. Previous exploration work has shown the project has REE occurrences with grades and thicknesses justifying further assessment. Our Africa-based Director and geologist, Cedric Simonet, has ranked Monte Muambe as one of the top carbonatite-hosted REE projects available for acquisition in Africa, 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.”
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