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AFRIcA DoWn UnDeR PReVIeW

peak brings Tanzania, uK strategy

ustralian junior Peak Resources Ltd has together sition. The global rollout of EVs and large-
Aemerged as a crucial player of the clean scale renewable energy installations has
energy metal ambitions of both Tanzania ratcheted up supply chain tensions for NdPr,
and the UK. key inputs into the magnets crucial for both
Peak is on the verge of becoming a verti- sectors.
cally integrated rare earths producer after it permit in place for Ngualla.” “There is definitely increased awareness
was granted a special mining licence (SML) After several years of paralysis, the Tan- about rare earths, particularly around the
for its Ngualla project is imminent. At the zanian Mines Ministry is beginning to pro- geopolitics and China’s more assertive for-
same time, it has exercised its option over cess licences again with a host of ASX- eign policy and trade stance,” Davis said.
a long-term lease to develop a rare earths listed companies awaiting approval. Peak That stance has resonated with govern-
refinery on Teesside, north-east England. appears to be near the head of the queue. ments across the western world who are
Shareholders have had to be patient with “We are highly confident that it is coming anxious to ensure their clean energy plans
Peak since the company produced a posi- shortly,” Davis said. “The Minister has pub- are not disrupted by supply shortages.
tive BFS for Ngualla and a refinery solution
in April 2017. Not only did the study land just
three months before a major policy shift sent
the Tanzanian mining sector into disarray,
but a string of failures among rare earths
miners left the market suspicious of the abil-
ity of western miners to break China’s stran-
glehold on international supply.
The structural narrative has shifted dra-
matically in the last two years, however.
Tanzania is welcoming foreign miners once
again and the inexorable rise of EVs and
renewable energy capacity in the US and
Europe has fuelled a push for rare earths
supply chain diversity.
Peak is poised to take advantage of both.
“This is about low-cost integrated rare
earths production through Ngualla – the
largest and highest-grade deposit in the
world – where the product will be mined and
milled and then at Teesside in the UK where
the concentrate will be shipped and refined
into a NdPr oxide and other separated prod-
ucts,” Peak managing director Bardin Davis
told Paydirt. Peak has defined a reserve of 18.5mt @ 4.8% TREo at its Ngualla rare earths project in
With a reserve of 18.5mt @ 4.8% TREO southern Tanzania
and added resources of 214.4mt @ 2.15%
TREO, Ngualla is both large and high-grade licly stated in both May and June that the Davis said Peak had fielded numerous
by international rare earths standards. That SML would be granted and all our discus- inquiries from export credit agencies and
it is contained within a bastnasite-rich zone sions with authorities have been consistent other development groups. The UK Gov-
of a weathered carbonatite only adds to the with those comments.” ernment’s support for its Teesside plans can
project’s economics. Once the SML is received, Peak will kick- also be traced back, in part, to the question
“Not only is the grade much higher than start development activity. Davis said the of supply security.
development peers but our focus on the project was advanced from a technical per- “We have had incredibly strong support
weathered bastnasite results in low acid spective but the BFS would require updating from the UK Government for our plans,”
consumption and low levels of thorium and with current input and price assumptions. Davis said. “That is driven by the Govern-
uranium, means it doesn’t have the envi- “Once we receive the SML, we will pro- ment’s plans to transition to e-mobility, plans
ronmental challenges a number of projects vide guidance on indicative guidelines for which extend into security of supply in key
face,” Davis said. key work before the final investment deci- commodities.”
All of that would’ve counted for nought if sion,” Davis said. “We will push the button As well as Peak at Middlesbrough, Japa-
Peak did not gain approval to mine, ship and on the framework agreement with the Gov- nese car manufacturer Nissan has commit-
refine the bastnasite material but with the ernment and then update the BFS. This will ted to a £1 billion EV hub in nearby Sunder-
SML issued, Davis is growing increasingly be mainly to refine the capex and opex but land. Davis said the impact could be crucial
bullish. there was some optimisation work that was for a region which has suffered economic
“The key focus on the permitting side is done after the study to incorporate. From decline for much of the past 30 years.
the grant of the SML,” he said. “At Teesside, there, we can move into front-end design “The UK Government sees the impor-
the environmental and planning permits are and also begin negotiations over offtake.” tance of our project in re-industrialising that
in place, and we have the environmental Offtake is becoming an intriguing propo- part of the country,” he said.

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