Ionic Rare Earths Limited with mining license for Makuut heavy rare earths project.

Mining license

Ionic Rare Earths Limited has announced that Uganda’s government has granted the company the mining license for the Makuutu heavy rare earths project. Makuutu is considered to be one of very few proven Ionic Adsorption Clay deposits, globally, with the scale to move the needle on heavy Rare Earth Oxide supply for 50 years and beyond. The clays of Makuutu are similar to the ionic clay deposits in China and Myanmar, which are characterized by low-cost mining, extraction, and processing opportunities, and are the most readily accessible global source of heavy REOs. The project considers open-pit mining and head desorption methods.

The permit allows Ionic Rare Earths to enter a discussion about the supply chain. It also allows the company to make a final investment decision. The investment decision is expected later in 2024 and the first production in 2026. The granted license is the first large-scale mining permit granted by Uganda authorities.

Biggest project

Tim Harrison has explained that granting a mining license results in this being one of the most high-level heavy earth projects. He stated: “The formal award of the mining license in Uganda reinforces the Makuutu Heavy Rare Earth project as one of the world’s largest and most advanced development-ready heavy rare earth element assets.” He also added: “Progress continues to be made at Makuutu’s Demonstration Plant, which will also be critical in de-risking the commercialization of the project through the production of value-added, mixed rare earth carbonate for our partners to qualify and validate.”

Makuutu project

According to the official website the Makuutu deposit is comprised of six licenses covering approximately 300 km2 located 120 km east of Kampala in Uganda. The defined mineralization stretches 37km long and is situated near high-quality tier-one infrastructure. Simple mining and low CAPEX processing will produce Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) with no radionuclides (Uranium and Thorium).

The projected mine is preliminary and expected to run for a minimum of 35 years, producing a 71% rich magnet and heavy rare earth carbonate product basket.