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NeWs

Lindian primed for rare earths stoush

hile advancing an exciting bauxite rences in Guinea. The other – Sangaredi “The great thing about drilling bauxite is
Wplay in Guinea remains top priority – has been mined for close to 30 years. you really are in bauxite from surface, so to
for Lindian Resources Ltd, the company in- Conglomerate bauxite is characterised speak, and for this programme it’s really all
tends to leave no stone unturned in its fight by a very high total alumina grade of 55- about depth,” Green said.
to take control of an equally promising rare 60% and extremely low deleterious ele- “Hopefully that depth will prove up to
earths project in Malawi. ments such as silica and reactive silica. what we believe it will and then all the
Lindian launched legal action against The bauxite profile is also typically at least sampling and assaying and ultimately a
Rift Valley Resource Developments Ltd 30m deep, compared to usual occurrenc- JORC-compliant resource statement will
and geologist Michael Saner last Novem- es of less than 15m below surface. come out of that.
ber over the attempted cancellation of an “If you look at bauxite around the world, “If it has the scale that we believe it has
earn-in agreement for up to 75% of the it’s generally characterised by significantly the potential for, being a conglomerate
Kangankunde rare earths project. higher silicas and reactive silicas, hence bauxite and being of such a high-grade
Kangankunde has been reported as the Guinea bauxite is just so attractive,” Green nature, then we really think the game plan
one of the largest rare earths projects out- said. is much more around which refiner and
side of China. “Refining is a pretty tough business and therefore which producer wants it more.
A directions hearing has been set for you need every edge you can, so if you A product like this, if it proves the way we
November 4-5. Lindian previously ob- can get a slightly better product with lower believe it will with the drilling, will define its
tained an injunction from the High Court silica, that’s going to reduce your costs own market.”
of Malawi preventing Rift Valley or Saner and so forth. Renowned bauxite geologist Mark Gif-
from dealing with the project and/or shares “With China’s continual growth in the ford oversaw the due diligence process
in the Rift Valley vehicle. bauxite/alumina space, that type of prod- with Green, who formally joined Lindian
Both the timing and the administrative uct is only going to become more and in July after a successful stint as general
process for the High Court hearing will more prominent. We’re also seeing a lot manager, project implementation for fel-
be established at next month’s directions more bauxite being traded; it’s going to low ASX-listed bauxite developer Canyon
hearing. seaborne rather than the old vertically inte- Resources Ltd.
From the outset, Lindian has been vocal grated model where the producer typically Despite this being Green’s first foray into
about is strong legal position, something builds refineries on top of the bauxite de- a managing director role, he said the “tim-
new managing director Shannon Green posit. It’s a far more cost-effective model ing was right” and he was “ripe for change”.
said was clear from the moment he joined and China is front and centre of that.” “It was just an opportunity that I couldn’t
the company. Green, who has spent most of the past say no to,” he said. “The stars aligned as
“This is quite obviously a world-class seven years focused on bauxite develop- they often do with these things and, let’s be
rare earths project that unfortunately is in ments in Africa, is confident Lindian share- honest, people don’t knock on your door
litigation with the vendor, but we have a holders will approve the Gaoual acquisi- every day offering you MD roles when you
very strong case and we’re very confident tion, allowing the company to kick off a haven’t been a MD before.
that ultimately we’ll secure the rights to that drilling programme as early as next month. “Often without already having that MD
project,” Green told Paydirt. At the time of print, Lindian was finalising brand it can be a bit hard, but Lindian of-
Green said pursuit of the claim would the permits required to begin drilling which fered me that opportunity and I’m really
not be a “significant drain” on the compa- will target calculation of a resource for re- excited about where this company is head-
ny’s ongoing cash requirements nor was it lease to the market in Q2 2020. ing.”
a distraction to work happening elsewhere Lindian also has bauxite and gold pro-
in the portfolio, specifically the Gaoual jects in Tanzania on its books, with an
bauxite project in Guinea. independent assessment currently being
A shareholder vote is tentatively sched- completed over both assets to determine
uled for this month to approve the acquisi- their next move.
tion of up to 75% of Gaoual, one of only
two known “conglomerate bauxite” occur- – Michael Washbourne

Lindian’s primary focus is the Gaoual
bauxite project in Guinea

Page 8 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT