London-listed Pensana has reported that the updated Joint Ore Reserve Committee- (Jorc-) compliant ore reserve grade for its Longonjo rare earth project, in Angola, has increased to 3.04% total rare earth oxide (TREO) containing 139 000 t of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide for a mine life of over 20 years, making it one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped magnet metal projects worldwide.

The company says the plant will process 800 000 t/y with a feed grade for the first five years of 4.12% TREO with a very low strip ratio of 0.25 t of waste for each tonne of ore mined.

Benefitting from the excellent infrastructure in the region, the capital cost at $217-million, including contingency, is one of the lowest capital intensities for a rare earth project of this scale, says Pensana.

With the site infrastructure and access road already in place and the mobilisation of contractors under way, the main construction of the modularised process plant is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

Initial production of 20 000 t/y of clean, highly marketable mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) is due to begin in late 2026.

The company says it has received considerable interest in offtake for the Stage 1 production of 20 000 t/y of MREC and has received expressions of interest in the proposed expansion tonnage of 40 000 t/y.

The project delivery is being undertaken by Mining Consultancy Company (MCC), a project management team with a record of delivering projects in Angola, working with ADP Holdings, which is part of Lycopodium group, a specialist in modular construction with extensive experience in Angola, and ProProcess Engineering, which has expertise in delivering modular process units across Africa.

Pensana says the team has confirmed pricing and manufacturing schedules of all long-lead equipment items including the ball mill, acid plant and thickeners.

It notes that about 70% of the equipment packages have been tendered and priced externally including all of the Tier 1, 2 and 3 packages.

The design, costing and contractor selection for the site infrastructure, along with the provision of bulk services, have been completed and the contractors mobilised.

Modularisation of the processing plant has been facilitated to enable efficient site erection and to allow for pre-commissioning testing before despatch to site.

The services to be provided by the Port of Lobito, Caminho de Ferro de Benguela, Lobito Atlantic Rail Consortium and the national power company RNT have been extensively defined and negotiated, says Pensana.

Moreover, the specialist equipment manufacturers with a focus on long-lead time plant equipment have been identified, pre-selected and included in the design process, including the milling units, flotation columns, calciner, acid plant, reagent plants and thickeners.

Global logistics company Deugro has been engaged to consolidate and provide an “umbrella" service for the global procurement activities.

Environmental management plans have been initiated and will work alongside the operational readiness programmes.

Pensana says a recruitment campaign in Angola has begun targeting the availability of local skill sets, which will allow confidence in the delivery of an effective operations readiness training programme during the construction phase.