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ADU ReVIeW

Ionic leads the way in Uganda

onic Rare Earths Ltd has lodged its mining li- said. “It has a very high value bas-
Icence application with authorities in Uganda, ket, dominant in magnet and heavy
the first step in a process which will eventually rare earths.”
see development of the country’s first com- Makuutu is also unique in Ugan-
mercial-scale mining operation. da, a country which does not cur-
Ionic lodged the application for its Makuutu rently boast a commercial mining
rare earths project on September 12. The industry. Harrison said despite
company is now waiting on approval of its the lack of precedence, Ionic had
ESIA study before beginning discussions over found support and a transparent
a mineral development agreement which will system in-country.
establish the fiscal terms of the project. “It’s a project that has a lot of
Speaking at Africa Down Under prior to [community] support in Uganda,”
lodgement, Ionic managing director Tim Har- he said. “Our experience in Ugan-
rison said the application was focused on a da has been very, very good and
small part of the wider Makuutu project to en- we have been the beneficiary of
sure swift development. a lot of support in government for High Commissioner Dorothy Hyulha (centre left)
“We have a resource of more than 534mt, developing a mining industry and a and Minister of State for Minerals Development
with an exploration target of double that, so very transparent system of mining Peter Lokeris Teko (centre right) led the Ugandan
this is a multigenerational asset,” Harrison and exploration applications.” delegation at Africa Down Under
said. “The initial mining licence is focused on Ionic’s progress on licensing will
Makuutu Central only, enabling us to get into be closely watched by the interna- identified potentially new mineral provinces
production and de-risk the project.” tional mining community, particularly as it will prospective for gold, iron ore, nickel, copper
Makuutu looms as one of the most signifi- be the first miner to operate under a new Min- and rare earths. He said the integrated online
cant rare earths projects in the world, the ionic ing Act, introduced this year. system would provide more information and
absorption clay deposits being rare outside of Speaking before Harrison, Ugandan Min- offer more transparency on licensing in the
China, which had used their high-value nature ister of State for Minerals Development of country.
to carve out its current dominant global posi- Uganda, Peter Lokeris Teko, said the new Act “Uganda is richly endowed… and the min-
tion in rare earths. Makuutu’s similar charac- was designed to attract new investors to de- ing and minerals policy for Uganda offer a
teristics made it attractive in an increasing velop Uganda’s untapped mineral potential. conducive investment climate in the coun-
tight rare earths market. The Government is taking the licensing try,” Teko said. “The Government intends to
“Makuutu is one of only a couple of near- system online and will include newly gener- develop the mineral resources in partnership
development-ready ionic absorption clay ated geophysical data. with the private sector.”
projects outside of China and Myanmar,” he Teko said the geophysical surveys had
– Dominic Piper

Time to act on critical minerals

entons Australia partner John Mollard The lack of direct policy may cause pain Countries such as Mozambique, for ex-
Dsaid many African governments were in the long term for Africa as global players ample, currently have no special provisions
falling behind to secure critical minerals sup- are well into a supply scramble to secure or strategy for critical minerals while others
ply due to a lack of enacting proper policies minerals that will be important during the – such as Morocco, Zambia, Uganda, Ni-
and initiatives. green energy transition. geria and Kenya – don’t even have specific
Mollard said important plans such as Mollard said Western countries mobi- definitions for their own critical minerals.
official critical minerals lists or policies to lised at a faster rate because they recog- Morocco, however, does have a mines
promote and fund exploration were absent nised supply was “slipping away”. plan to encourage exploration and exploi-
across several parts of Africa, while coun- “What we have seen, in the last 12 tation of strategic minerals, while Kenya
tries such as China, Canada, Australia and months, is these Western governments has rough classifications for base and rare
the US have mobilised at a much faster coming to the party,” he said. “They have metal groups under its mining act.
rate. the seen the security of supply, of what they “[Western countries] are trying to sure up
“I think there is a lot of movement in each deem critical minerals, as slipping away. supply and create policy where there was
[African] state’s mining acts and policies are “The development of Africa’s policy a vacuum,” he said. “If I look at the foreign
being considered,” he said. “But it does ap- framework, I believe, is probably a bit slow- government policy and Western policy, I
pear…there’s not a direct focus on certain er. It hasn’t quite reacted to what is happen- think this is going to help define African gov-
critical minerals. ing in the West. ernment policy going forward – or at least
“There are no real requirements in most “[Africa will become] be more and more help Africa attract more money and invest-
jurisdictions to value-add and process criti- dependent on the multi-lateral and bilateral ment in the future.”
cal minerals in country. No special tax re- investment treaties, and how China and
gime or dividend regime for critical miner- Western governments are now framing – Fraser Palamara
als.” their policies.”

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