You’ve outlined several key drivers for the coming year for Altona Rare Earths. What are these plans?
2025 will continue to be a year of discovery, development, and diversification:
- Altona will continue to advance the Sesana copper silver project towards discovery
- Exploration is underway to evaluate the potential impact of the recent gallium discovery at Monte Muambe, both as a co-product of rare earths and as a potential stand-alone source of gallium
- The scope of the Monte Muambe fluorspar project, located on the same mining concession as the rare earths and gallium project, was revised to 50,000tpy of acid-spar. We will give a lot of attention to this project, which has short-term potential for cash-flow generation
- The company will continue implementing its diversification strategy beyond the existing projects in order to multiply revenue generation options
Your Monte Muambe project in Mozambique has had significant discoveries lately. What are some highlights from recent work done here?
The discovery of gallium, announced in April, is truly exciting. Usually, gallium is obtained as a by-product of alumina extraction from bauxite, and occasionally from zinc concentrates. However, the presence of gallium in carbonatites, associated with rare earth elements, introduces a new geological concept that could lead to the discovery of mineable gallium deposits. So far, we have recorded grades exceeding 200g/t Ga, with notable intercepts such as 100m at 77g/t in rare earth ore (hole MM039). Our geochemical data strongly suggests that gallium will be recoverable in the initial flotation concentrate from such ore, as a coproduct of rare earth elements.
The review of our soil sampling data has also led to the identification of three significant soil gallium anomalies. These anomalies are particularly interesting as they are not associated with rare earth ore. We are currently conducting in-fill geochemical sampling to identify the source rocks and confirm their grade.
Additionally, gallium soil anomalies have served as pathfinders, leading to the discovery of new high-grade fluorspar deposits. Encouraging initial flotation results on fluorspar have prompted us to review the scope of the fluorspar project, aiming for a capacity of 50,000tpy of acid-spar.
What’s next for the project?
Altona is going to continue rapidly derisking the fluorspar production project with:
- Advanced metallurgical testing to generate a process flowsheet as well as samples of product which will be submitted to potential offtakers
- Definition of a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate covering known deposits in the western part of the intrusion as well as the recent discoveries
- Continued engagement with potential off-takers, including in-country, and production of a scoping study
The rare earth project is at PFS stage, and we are integrating the recovery of gallium in on-going metallurgical studies for rare earths extraction. Altona is actively seeking a strategic partner active in the mid- or down-stream supply chain for the rare earths project development.
Additional exploration on the gallium soil anomalies has already started with in-fill soil sampling and will continue with trenching and drilling. Synergies will arise between the assessment of the new fluorspar discoveries and of the gallium sources due to their proximity.
Can you share project highlights of the Sesana project in Botswana? What can we expect out of this project in the near-term?
Sesana is a very exciting copper (and silver) project. It is located in the Kalahari Copper Belt, a very “hot” copper province of Africa, with strong M&A potential considering the recent A$40M deal between BHP and Cobre, and the fact that MMG, currently producing from its Khoemacau Zone 5 mine located just 25km from Sesana, seeks to expand its production capacity. A key feature of the Kalahari Copper Belt is that copper silver mineralization occurs along the contact between two sedimentary formations which have strikingly different geophysical signatures. As a result, the position of the areas of potential (the contact zones) is well identified from regional airborne geophysics. The Sesana licence is located on one of these contact zones and was one of very few such licences still available when Altona acquired it.
The project is currently in the environmental permitting stage. Altona will use an array of airborne and ground geophysical methods to narrow down on drilling targets, with the first drill-holes expected by the end of his year.
Can you talk about your strategic focus on Africa? Why is this region so crucial to the critical minerals value chains?
Africa has the resources, obviously, and large parts of the continent are still relatively unexplored, in particular as far as “new” commodities are concerned. The discovery of gallium at Monte Muambe, a first for Mozambique, is a perfect example.
But importantly, the mining industry in Africa has made a lot of progress over the past decades: human resources, contractors, service providers, and also financial resources. While the continent is diverse and this progress is not homogeneous across all jurisdictions, it is generally leading to an improvement of operating conditions for the mineral industry. We are increasingly seeing an interest from governments and from the private sector in developing local supply chains, integrated with global markets, and we think that’s an important part of the opportunity.
Rare Earths have been in the news quite a bit, with geopolitical tensions between the US and China dominating. How do you see Altona’s role in delivering these key minerals?
The recent restrictions on export of certain rare earths from China to the US, and before these of gallium and germanium, underpin the importance of having diversified sources of raw materials. This is especially important for strategic and defense applications. Many of the supply chains of critical minerals are largely controlled by China. Developing alternatives will require entirely new supply chains, which includes the upstream segment: reliable, responsible sources of quality raw materials. This is where Altona positions itself.
Finally, any near-term news that our readers should be on the lookout for in the coming months?
There is a lot going on, so definitely a lot of news is expected in the short term and throughout the year. At Sesana, investors can expect the completion of the environmental permitting processes and the start of geophysics and drilling targets definition, with drilling and a potential discovery by year end. The prospecting licence is also currently being transferred to the 51%-held special purpose vehicle Sesana Copper (Pty) Ltd.
At Monte Muambe, rapid progress can be expected on the fluorspar project and simultaneous gallium exploration – metallurgical testing results, exploration and drilling results, a fluorspar JORC mineral resource estimate and a scoping study by year end.
