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AN OVERVIEW
Rwenzori is a world-class REE deposit with considerable upside potential to be a large- scale, low-cost REO producer. Our focus is ensuring economic viability with the least possible impact on the environment whilst creating opportunities for local communities.
Makuutu is a clay deposit with confirmed ionic/adsorption REE clays. The grades of our REE are comparable to grades in clay deposits worldwide. With the resource size currently scoped the potential life of mine is in excess of 30 years.
Being a clay deposit, extraction from ionic clays is the lowest cost option for REE mining as against the minerals from hard rock deposits such as those found in carbonatites, igneous rocks and other hydro-thermal deposits.
The Makuutu project is approximately 40 kilometres East of Jinja, 120km East of Kampala in Eastern Uganda. The 2 licenses cover about 272km2 and are located within what has been interpreted as a mini sedimentary basin that covers about 40km2.
The area has excellent infrastructure with tarred roads, railway line, power lines, water, cellphone coverage, as well as being accessible throughout the year irrespective of weather conditions.
Exploration work to date (drilling in excess of 2,000 meters and 1,200 samples submitted for REE analysis) confirms:
• the presence of ionic/adsorption type clays with TREO grades in excess of 0.07% (700 ppm)
• A resource size of approximately 300mt-450mt of REO bearing clays with an average thickness of 10m, under c.1m of top soil
Timeline
Estimate of mineral resources in the ground including grade and quantity of mineralisation. The focus of the work is around the value of the potential ore, the grade and the recovery and to determine to proceed with further feasibility studies.
An assessment of the economic merits of the project supported by actual verifiable data based on work and or studies completed. This process may include bulk-sampling to allow for the optimal economic recovery of complex ores.
Piloting demonstrates operational viability, “proof-of-concept”, and produces market samples of the final product that can be expected, thus reducing technical risk. Piloting also generates metallurgical data that can be used to design the full-scale plant, thus reducing design and capital risk.
A full feasibility study should demonstrate within a reasonable confidence that the project can be constructed and operated in a technically sound and economically viable manner. The study should support the raising of finances for the project from banks or other sources, and provide a basis for detailed designs and construction.
UGANDA
Uganda’s economy is stable – and booming.
The Government of Uganda strongly encourages private investment, both foreign and domestic. Efforts aimed at improving the investment climate have been made at different levels by reducing bureaucracy, streamlining the legal framework, fighting corruption and stabilising the economy.
Economic performance remains strong, and is projected to reach 5.9% in 2018, up from 4.8% in 2017 and 2.3% in 2016. This growth is driven by public infrastructure investment; manufacturing and construction; and improvements in the services sector, particularly financial and banking, trade, transport, and information and communication technology services.
This outlook assumes continued favourable weather conditions, robust external demand, an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows as oil exports draw closer, and capital spending executed as planned.
Thanks to the country’s moderate climate, the economy is predominantly agricultural and occupies some four-fifths of the working population. The land is richly fertile, and Ugandan coffee has become both a mainstay of the agricultural economy and a favourite of connoisseurs around the world.
Since its independence from Britain in 1962, the east African nation has endured a military coup, followed by a brutal military dictatorship which ended in 1979, disputed elections in 1980 and a five-year war before current President Yoweri Museveni came to power. Since then, Uganda has been able to transform itself from a country with a troubled past to one of stability and prosperity.
About the size of Great Britain, Uganda is populated by dozens of ethnic groups. The English language and Christianity have united these diverse peoples, who come together in the cosmopolitan capital of Kampala.
The country is home to one of the most diverse and concentrated ranges of African fauna including the highly endangered mountain gorilla and the endangered common chimpanzee.
Our unique process
WHAT MAKES OUR project UNIQUE
A clay deposit:
Rare earth elements are easier and cheaper to extract, and a key source of critical, magnetic and heavy rare earths. – not a mineral that we are dealing with.
Our process:
More economically viable and environmentally friendly.
Genuine rare earth carbonate:
Rare earths extracted from clays do not require further milling, crushing or cracking but purely separation and refining – the product is a genuine rare earth carbonate – a value added intermediate product perfectly suited for immediate downstream processing via separation and refining.
Breadth and volume of deposit:
A huge deposit, there is significant upside for further growth at Makuutu with only 25% of the current targeted exploration area drilled, and only a fraction of the 37km mineralisation corridor explored to date.
Our Rare Earth Minerals
Whilst we have a full range of REM the value of our core basket consists primarily of :
- Neodymium
- Praesidium
- Dysprosium
- Terbium
- Gadolinium
Our clays are similar to other well-known clay mines currently in operation in China (arrows denote clay mines with similar REE baskets).
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Our Resource Characteristics
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