Globe Metals and Mining (ASX:GBE) has secured approval from the Mining Minerals Regulatory Authority for the amendment of a large-scale mining licence at the Kanyika Project in Malawi.
The amendment allows the inclusion of zircon, hafnium, praseodymium, and neodymium.
Globe Metals, which has a market capitalisation of $50 million, says this approval expands its scope of the licence from niobium, tantalum, and uranium, while also enabling the company to evaluate, develop, and produce a broader suite of critical minerals.
CEO Charles Altshuler says the company is diversifying its resource base and positioning Globe to participate in some of the fastest-growing and most strategically important markets in the world.
“This broadened licence provides both regulatory certainty and long-term strategic flexibility, ensuring Globe can unlock maximum value,” Altshuler says.
At present, the Kanyika project’s JORC report does not cover zircon, hafnium, praseodymium, and neodymium, and as such, the company seeks to undertake further geological and metallurgical work to include them.
If the company chooses to explore and produce, the next steps will involve targeted drilling, sampling, and metallurgical testwork. Upon completion, the project’s JORC report will be updated and extended to cover the new commodities.
Zircon is widely used in ceramics, foundries, and advanced refractories. Hafnium is an ultra-rare metal critical for aerospace alloys, jet engines, and nuclear control rods.
Meanwhile, neodymium and praseodymium are essential for producing permanent magnets which are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced electronics.
The Kanyika Project, located in Malawi, aims to produce high-purity niobium pentoxide and tantalum pentoxide powders. The project has a resource of 68.3 million tonnes @ 2,830 parts per million (ppm) niobium pentoxide, 135ppm tantalum oxide, and 80ppm triuranium octoxide.
Globe Metals and Mining is focused on becoming an emerging vertically-integrated niobium producer.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Globe Metals and Mining
