Name of the Project
Longonjo neodymium/praseodymium project.

Location
The project is located in Angola – 4 km from a modern rail line leading directly into the Atlantic Port of Lobito.

Project Owner/s
Pensana Rare Earths holds an 84% interest in Longonjo through its 84% holding in Angola-registered company Ozango Minerais, which owns 100% of the mining licence.

The Angolan government holds a 10% interest and the company’s Angolan partners hold the remaining 6%.

Project Description
Longonjo is one of the biggest rare earths deposits in the world.

Longonjo has indicated and inferred mineral resources of 226-million tonnes grading 1.47% rare-earth oxides and 0.33% neodymium/praseodymium. A prefeasibility study (PFS) has indicated the viability of a long-life, low-cost openpit operation based on a weather-zone component of the Longonjo resource estimate.

The focus of the PFS is on the initial development of the highest-grade portion of the near-surface weathered-zone mineralisation, which is a subset of the total project mineral resource estimate.

The PFS envisages openpit mining and the two-phase development of a two-million tonne-a-year processing plant and associated infrastructure, producing on average 56 000 t/y of neodymium/praseodymium concentrate for export.

The openpit will be a free dig operation with a very low strip ratio. The processing plant will use floatation to produce a high-grade rare-earth concentrate. The project has a nine-year life-of-mine.

The investment has been designed to meet the Equator Principles and Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the Green House Gas Protocol.

Access to low-carbon power from the Luaca hydroelectric dam and local photovoltaic and storage facilities will allow for a very low carbon footprint, combined with closed-circuit zero discharge for process water and tailings with full end-of-life rehabilitation.

Potential Job Creation
The project will provide training for about 370 direct jobs at the mine. Local businesses are being prepared to become service providers. A particular focus is on the training of young women for technical and engineering roles.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case scenario the project has an internal rate of return of 101%, with a payback of 13 months.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital costs are estimated at $130.6-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project can be put into production in less than 18 months.

Latest Developments
On April 27, 2020, Pensana Rare Earths announced that its subsidiary, Ozango Minerais, had received approval from Angolan President João Lourenço for the exploitation of the Longonjo rare earths project. The mining title is renewable for up to 35 years.

The Longonjo DFS is expected to confirm the project’s status as one of the world’s only major rare earth mines being developed at a time when demand for magnet metals from electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines manufacturers are expected to take off.

The results of a further 18 drill holes of the recently completed 7 000 m drill programme at the project have further demonstrated the continuity of large areas of inferred resources outside the PFS pit design.

The company expects that these latest results will allow for these areas of inferred mineral resource to be upgraded to the indicated category, consequently allowing for its inclusion into the mine plan on completion of the DFS work programmes.

Pensana is still awaiting the results of 120 drill holes. The majority are infill holes within the high-grade area of the PFS pit design and include several deeper holes, which are testing an area immediately below the PFS pit design where previous drilling had intersected high grades in fresh rock.

The studies into the downstream production of a carbonate, which will open up markets in Europe, Japan, Korea and China, will form part of the DFS that will be reported on in the September quarter.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Wood Group (lead engineer, TSF, infrastructure, mining, process plant engineering, cost estimation, surface water management); SRK Consulting (mineral resource estimate and model); HCV Africa (environmental- and social-impact assessment and baseline studies); Grupo Simples (environmental and social assessment, stakeholder engagement – Angola); AVM Advogadas (Angola legal); DLA Piper (Australia legal); Vic McLaglen (legal consultant); Auralia Metallurgy (metallurgical testwork facility – flotation); Bureau Veritas Minerals (metallurgical testwork – comminution); ALS Mineralogy (mineralogy testwork);

Dr Wally Witt (geological consultant); ARQ Consulting (geotechnical studies); HCV Africa (hydrology, borefield testing and modelling); Conrad Partners (transport and rare earth concentrate market); and Nagrom Laboratories (sample assays).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Pensana Rare Earths, contact@pensana.co.uk.