Name of the Project
Monte Muambe rare earths and fluorspar project.

Location
North-western Mozambique.

Project Owner/s
Resource exploration and development company, Altona Rare Earths (51%).

Project Description
A scoping study has proposed the openpit mining of Target 1 and Target 4 at the Monte Muambe project over a life-of-mine of 18 years.

An estimated 750 000 t/y of ore is planned to be extracted and processed through a beneficiation plant to produce a rare-earth concentrate.

The beneficiation process will include crushing, milling and flotation.

The concentrate will be processed through a hydrometallurgical plant to produce an average of 15 000 t/y of mixed rare-earth carbonate.

The hydrometallurgical process will involve a weak acid gangue leach, followed by rare earths leaching and purification.

The mixed rare-earth concentrate product will be packaged and transported by existing road infrastructure to the Port of Beira, in Mozambique, for export.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $283.3-million and an internal rate of return of 25%, with a payback of 2.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $276.3-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Gallium is a rare metal, usually extracted as a by-product from zinc and bauxite ores, and is used in a wide range of electronic and high-technology applications, such as radars, light-emitting diodes, and semiconductors. The metal is considered a strategic raw material by several jurisdictions, including the EU, with China maintaining a quasi-monopoly on its production.

The price of gallium is currently about $250/kg. A recent ban on gallium and germanium exports to the US propelled the metal to its highest price since 2011, reaching $585/kg in December 2024.

This price shift, along with recent discoveries of high-grade gallium associated with rare earths in carbonatites, has prompted Altona to review its drilling data for the metal. Gallium is one of the trace elements analysed by Intertek Laboratories during the preparation of Altona’s rare earths mineral resource estimate. Several high-grade gallium intercepts were identified in diamond drill holes MM039 and MM040, with grades of up to 232 g/t.

Hole MM039, located at the northern end of the fluorite zone, also contains high-grade rare earth and fluorspar intercepts. Gallium mineralisation is continuous along the entire length of the hole.

Hole MM040 is located on Target 6, which hosts high-grade rare earths mineralisation but has undergone relatively little drilling compared with Targets 1 and 4. This discovery could potentially enhance the economics of some of the rare-earth orebodies at Monte Muambe – particularly Target 6 – by providing an additional valuable by-product.

The lateral extent of the gallium mineralisation is currently unknown and will be assessed as part of the next fieldwork campaign.

Altona plans to investigate the potential recoverability of gallium, starting with the determination of the metal’s exact mineralogy, which remains unknown. The company will also immediately start reviewing the Monte Muambe soil sampling database, which includes first-pass X-ray fluorescence gallium assays, to identify possible gallium anomalies in the soil.

The company has also confirmed that the fluorspar samples have been delivered to the Peacocke & Simpson laboratory in Zimbabwe for gravity separation and flotation tests, and that the testing process is under way. The delay in delivery was caused by logistical difficulties stemming from post-election instability in Mozambique, which has now subsided. Results from the testing are expected later this month.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Altona Rare Earths business development, Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, tel +44 7795 168 157 or email ctw@altonaRE.com.