19
February 2024
ALTONA RARE EARTHS
PLC
("Altona"
or "the Company")
OPERATIONAL
UPDATE
Altona (LSE: REE), a resource
exploration and development company focused on Rare Earths in
Africa, is pleased to provide an operational
update on its Monte Muambe Rare Earths project and on other
activities.
Monte Muambe
As previously announced,
Prefeasibility Study activities for Monte Muambe are underway and
currently focused on advanced metallurgical testing. A 70kg
representative ore sample is with Auralia Metallurgy in Perth
(Australia), and another 100kg ore sample has been received by SGS
Lakefields in Canada. The sample with SGS Lakefields will first
undergo extensive feed characterisation including Electron
Microprobe Analysis and TIMA-X analysis. TIMA-X stands for Tescan
Integrated Mineral Analyzer and is a one of the newest automated
mineralogy technologies. It is designed to provide quantitative
mineral speciation and distribution, as well as characterisation,
grain size attributes, degree of liberation and associations of
minerals of interest.
Following feed characterisation,
metallurgical test work will initially focus on producing a
high-grade Rare Earth concentrate in order to improve the economics
of the Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate production process. The possible
separation and recovery of fluorspar, another critical raw material
present in the ore at Monte Muambe, will also be assessed.
Flotation test results are expected in Q2 2024.
Separation of the 15 Rare Earths
present at Monte Muambe from their ore, with a focus on Neodymium,
Praseodymium, Terbium and Dysprosium, is a complex process.
Metallurgy is a critical component of rare earths projects
development. Beside process design and costing, key outputs will
also include products specifications to enable discussions with
potential off-takers.
Portfolio Expansion and Diversification
Altona attended a very busy Mining
Indaba event in Cape Town in early February and was pleased to note
the general optimism in the mining industry in Africa, as well as
the tangible interest of Western Governments to support the
development of critical raw material sources. Altona had fruitful
meetings with representatives of several US Government agencies
with respect to Monte Muambe.
Additionally, the Board of Directors
has undertaken a careful and thorough review of the Company's
corporate strategy. As Monte Muambe is advancing, Altona recognises
that the time is right for the Company to expand and diversify its
portfolio of projects in Africa, including Rare Earths, but also
non-Rare Earths critical raw materials such as copper, lithium and
niobium. The Company is therefore currently actively assessing
potential new opportunities with a focus on projects having a
low-entry cost with a clear pathway to early results and to
majority ownership.
Cedric Simonet, CEO of Altona, commented:
"To complement
Monte Muambe, we are looking to build a balanced portfolio of
carefully selected critical raw materials projects across different
African countries. We believe this will improve Altona's risk
profile and strengthen the Company's value proposition for its
shareholders.
"Operating several projects, within the management team's
capacity and without increasing significantly our overheads, will
enable the Company to maintain a higher proportion of
money-in-the-ground, as well as to build more resilience and a
stronger news flow.
"I
am excited by the opportunities we are creating, and I am looking
forward to a transformative 2024 for Altona."
This announcement contains
information which, prior to its disclosure, was inside information
as stipulated under Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment)
(EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended).
To subscribe for RNS alerts, please
visit: https://www.altonare.com/investors/regulatory-news-alerts/
-ends-
Altona Rare Earths Plc
Cedric Simonet,
CEO
+44 (0) 7778 866 108
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Business
Development
+44 (0) 7795 168 157
Novum Securities Ltd (Corporate
Finance)
+44 (0) 20 7399 9400
David
Coffman
Daniel Harris
Allenby Capital Ltd (Joint Broker)
+44 (0)20 3328 5656
Kelly Gardiner / Guy McDougall
(Sales)
Nick Athanas (Corporate
Finance)
Optiva Securities (Joint
Broker)
+44 (0) 20 3411 1882
Daniel
Ingram
About Altona Rare Earths Plc
Altona is a
resource exploration and development company focused on Rare Earths
in Africa. The Company is listed on the Main
Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Rare Earths are a group of 17
chemical elements, many of which are critical to the
World's ongoing transition from
carbon-based to renewable energies, and to the defence and
communication sectors.
The Company is currently developing
Monte Muambe, its flagship Magnet Rare Earths Project, located in
Northwest Mozambique. The Project was acquired in June 2021, and
the Company has so far drilled over 7,800m, and
defined a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate of 13.6 million
tons at 2.42% TREO. A Competent Person Report including the
Scoping Study for Monte Muambe was published on 18 October 2023.
The Project is now at Prefeasibility Study stage, with a focus on
metallurgical testing and process.
Altona is presently assessing new
critical raw material projects acquisition opportunities, including
both Rare Earths and non Rare Earths projects.