Name of the Project
Kangankunde rare earths project.

Location
About 90 km north of Blantyre and 13 km south of Balaka, in Malawi.

Project Owner/s
Australia-based Lindian Resources.

Project Description
A feasibility study on the Stage 1 development of the project has confirmed a technically low-risk and economically robust project, with maiden ore reserves of 23.7-million tonnes at 2.9% total rare-earth oxides (TREOs) supporting a Stage 1 life-of-mine of 45 years. 

Lindian will produce a premium monazite concentrate at 55% TREO grade with no deleterious elements. Operating costs will be in the lowest-cost quartile globally, establishing it as one of the largest, most promising underdeveloped rare earths deposits in the world.

Stage 1 envisages average production of about 15 323 t/y of premium concentrate with 55% TREO grade, with low levels of radionuclides (thorium and uranium) and limited acid-consuming minerals. 

The premium concentrate will contain an estimated 8 400 t/y of rare-earth oxide (REO) and about 1 640 t/y of neodymium/praseodymium. 

The unique mineralogy of the Kangankunde’s ore makes it amenable to relatively high levels of REO recovery, mainly through a physical process of gravity and magnetic separation. 

As a result, the project’s flowsheet only requires a small flotation circuit at the back end of the plant to reduce impurities such as sulphides.

The very strong economics of Stage 1 and the large resource endowment of the project, together with robust market demand forecasts, provide confidence for a potential Stage 2 expansion to significantly increase yearly production. 

Potential Job Creation
The project will require more than 200 full-time equivalent site roles during the construction phase, and more than 100 full-time equivalent site roles during the operational phase.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $794-million and an internal rate of return of 99%, with a payback of less than two years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital is estimated at $40-million, which includes 12.5% contingency, making it one of the lowest capital cost rare earths projects under development.

Planned Start/End Date
First production is targeted and on track for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Latest Developments
Lindian Resources has secured a meaningful logistics and cost advantage for the project after Australia’s national nuclear agency, ANSTO, completed an independent radiological assessment and found that representative monazite concentrate samples are exempt from radioactive transport classification under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s SSR-6 framework.

As the concentrate is not classified as radioactive for transport, Lindian has said shipments will not be subject to Class 7 dangerous goods requirements, which typically add layers of packaging, documentation, carrier limitations and regulatory oversight.

The company has contrasted this with many monazite-based rare earth projects, where higher uranium and thorium levels can trigger Class 7 classification, forcing either complex shipping compliance or early downstream processing to remove radionuclides before export, both of which can add cost, time and technical complexity.

Lindian has argued that the SSR-6 exemption should preserve carrier flexibility and simplify the export pathway, potentially reducing logistics friction and supporting a more scalable route to market as the project advances towards production.

Executive director Zac Komur has said the independent validation materially derisks the project’s pathway to market, while the concentrate’s “ultralow” radionuclide profile should translate into a simpler processing flowsheet with structurally lower capital and operating costs, given reduced requirements for radionuclide removal, residue handling infrastructure and compliance overheads.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Lindian Resources, tel +61 8 6557 8838 or email info@lindianresources.com.au.