Reminder from last night's RNS25 Jan 2018 07:20
Mkango's primary business is the exploration for rare earth elements and associated minerals in the Republic of Malawi, a country whose hospitable people have earned it a reputation as "the warm heart of Africa". The Company holds interests in three exclusive prospecting licenses in Malawi, the Phalombe licence, the Thambani licence and the Chimimbe Hill licence.
The main exploration target in the 80% held Phalombe licence is the Songwe Hill rare earths' deposit, which features carbonatite hosted rare earth mineralisation and was subject to previous exploration in the late 1980s. Mkango completed an updated Pre-feasibility Study for the project in November 2015 and is currently commencing a Feasibility Study.
Under the terms of the Agreement with Talaxis, Talaxis will fully fund a feasibility study for Songwe by investing �12 million (C$21 million) for a 49% interest in the project (via Lancaster). Talaxis will also have the option to acquire a further 26% interest by arranging funding for project development. If Talaxis exercises its option, Mkango will retain a 25% interest, free carried to production. To date, Talaxis has invested �5 million (C$8.8 million), which is funding the initial phase of the Feasibility Study, for a 20% interest in the project with Mkango holding 80%.
By investing a further �2 million (C$3.3 million), Talaxis will acquire a 49% interest in Maginito, a new subsidiary of Mkango focused on neodymium alloy powders, magnet and other technologies. This includes the collaboration with Metalysis Ltd announced in September 2017, which is focused on advanced alloys using neodymium or praseodymium with other elements for permanent magnet manufacturing. Permanent magnets are critical materials for most electric vehicles, direct drive wind turbines and many other high growth applications. Neodymium is a key rare earth component at Songwe. To date, Talaxis has invested �1 million (C$1.8 million) for a 24.5% interest in Maginito with Mkango holding 75.5%.
The main exploration targets in Mkango's remaining two 100% held licences are, in the Thambani licence, uranium, niobium, tantalum and zircon and, in the Chimimbe Hill licence, nickel and cobalt.
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