Aim-listed Pensana says Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA), the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund, will make a further $10-million equity investment in the company in return for 12.3-million ordinary shares in Pensana.
These funds will be directed towards Pensana’s Angola-based Longonjo project’s early works programme, which is now under way.
This includes establishment of the construction camp, site offices and associated infrastructure ahead of the main plant; construction activity in 2023; completion of the detailed design for the concentrator and mixed rare earth sulphate plants; rail-side off-loading facilities for construction materials; and agricultural livelihood restoration activities.
The investment follows the FSDEA’s previous investments in Pensana over the past two years and will increase FSDEA’s equity holding in the company to 24.42%, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.
“This additional investment is an expression from the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund of its continuous support for the Longonjo project, for what it represents for Angola’s participation in a sector of crucial importance for the green economies narrative, as well as for the positive impact it will have for Angola, from the socioeconomic point of view,” says FSDEA chairperson Carlos Alberto Lopes.
The Longonjo project is one part of the sustainable supply chain Pensana is working to establish to meet the demand for rare earths for use in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The mine, which will comprise an openpit operation and a flotation concentration plant, will produce mixed rare earth sulphate that will be treated at Pensana’s new $195-million Saltend processing facility, in the UK.
The Saltend facility is designed to produce about 12 500 t/y of rare earth oxide, of which 4 500 t to 5 000 t will be neodymium and praseodymium.
