Rare earths developer Lindian Resources is rattling the tin for $100 million as it sets it sights on first production from its flagship Malawi mine.
Rare earths developer Lindian Resources is rattling the tin for $100 million as it sets it sights on first production from its flagship Malawi mine.
It's understood that the listed developer is raising $100 million, priced at 75 cents per share, representing a discount of more than 15 per cent to Lindian's last close.
Lindian told the market the placement was with institutional investors and critical minerals funds before entering a trading halt this morning. It's understood Petra Capital is the lead manager.
Valued at $1.48 billion on the ASX, Lindian is progressing development of its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, marketed as a high-grade deposit with a 20 per cent NdPr ratio in total rare earth oxides.
The Perth-headquartered rare earths play is progressing towards first production of rare earths concentrate from its Kangankunde operation in the fourth quarter of this year.
Process plant construction and mine stripping have begun, the workforce accommodation village is operational, and the first blast is scheduled for April, ahead of first feed and concentrate production in November.
Once online, Lindian is targeting 20,000 tonnes per annum of monazite concentrate production from the first stage of the project, costed at US$40 million.
The second stage involves an expansion of overall production capacity for an additional 100,000tpa.
Earlier this month Lindian spent US$15 million on a stake in an operational downstream processing plant in Kazakhstan, which was previously operated by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation and uranium producer Kazatomprom.
Lindian is expecting to process 12,500tpa of monazite concentrate from its Kangankunde project through the Kazakhstan hydrometallurgical plant, in line with the mine’s development timeline.
That deal was billed as providing Lindian with a capital-efficient pathway into downstream processing, “removing the need for hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, associated development risk, and multi-year construction and permitting timelines”.
Today, fellow rare earths developer Hastings similarly acquired a stake in an existing downstream processing plant in Thailand, after assessing its options in Western Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Closer to home, Lindian also has a deal with Iluka Resources to supply its Eneabba refinery with about 10 per cent of its rare earth concentrate capacity, once the taxpayer-backed operation is complete and brought online.
Rattling the tin comes at a time of heightened geopolitical interest in rare earths ex-China's grasp on production and processing, with established Western producers like Lynas Rare Earths fielding increased demand.
Lindian was previously in the headlines after two Chinese foreign nationals were among a group of people detained at the Malawi rare earths project for alleging collecting geological samples without consent.
