MKANGO RECEIVES ESHIA APPROVAL FOR THE SONGWE HILL RE PROJECT
PROJECTS AND EXPLORATION •
• Rubicon surface stockpiles upgraded to Indicated Resource category , totalling 0.27Mt @ 0.86 % Li2O
• Additional resource development drilling over Helikon 2 and Helikon 3 was planned in the March quarter ; site preparation underway
Mkango president Alexander Lemon stated , “ The approval of the ESHIA for the Songwe Hill Rare Earths project is a major achievement for Mkango and Malawi ’ s first rare earth mining project . We would like to thank the Malawian government for their ongoing cooperation and support and the Malawi Environmental Protection Agency for their advice and support during the ESHIA engagement , review and approval process .”
“ The Malawi Ministry of Justice has appointed a London based international law firm with mining expertise to carry out a final review of the MDA and we are hoping to shortly conclude an agreement that is a win-win for both the Nation of Malawi and all of Mkango ’ s stakeholders .”
The ESHIA was undertaken by Digby Wells Environmental Limited ( https :// www . digbywells . com / about-digby-wells /) in compliance with the latest International Finance Corporation ( IFC ) Performance Standards and the Malawi Environmental Management Act , No . 19 of 2017 .
MKANGO RECEIVES ESHIA APPROVAL FOR THE SONGWE HILL RE PROJECT
Location : Malawi Phase : Exploration Resource : Rare earths
Earlier this year , Mkango Resources Ltd . announced that the Malawi Environmental Protection Agency ( MEPA ) had approved the Environmental Social Health Impact Assessment ( ESHIA ) for Mkango ’ s flagship Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project ( Songwe Hill ) in the Phalombe district of Malawi .
The approval of the ESHIA is a significant milestone in the Mining Development Agreement ( MDA ) approval process , it is a fundamental requirement for the company to be granted a mining licence and is expected to unlock significant stakeholder value and future investment for the development of Sub-Saharan Africa ’ s first large scale , commercial rare earth mining and processing operation in Malawi .
Market Abuse Regulation ( MAR ) Disclosure Mkango is developing Songwe Hill in Malawi with a Feasibility Study completed in July 2022 . Malawi is known as " The Warm Heart of Africa ", a stable democracy with existing road , rail and power infrastructure , and new infrastructure developments underway .
In parallel , Mkango and Grupa Azoty PULAWY , Poland ' s leading chemical company and the second largest manufacturer of nitrogen and compound fertilisers in the European Union , have agreed to work together towards development of a rare earth Separation Plant at Pulawy in Poland . The Pulawy Separation Plant will process the purified mixed rare earth carbonate produced at Songwe Hill .
Through its ownership of Maginito , Mkango is also developing green technology opportunities in the rare earths supply chain , encompassing neodymium ( NdFeB ) magnet recycling as well as innovative rare earth alloy , magnet and separation technologies . Maginito holds a 42 % interest in UK rare earth ( NdFeB ) magnet recycler , HyProMag ( www . hypromag . com ) with an option to increase its interest to 49 %.
Mkango also has an extensive exploration portfolio in Malawi , including the Mchinji rutile exploration project , the Thambani uranium-tantalum-niobium-zircon project and Chimimbe nickelcobalt project . •
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