The operators of the Lofdal Mining Project, Namibia Rare Earths (NRE), have begun the process to expand the scope of the rare earth metals mining project.
Earlier this year, Namibia Critical Metals president Darrin Campbell said the project was initially criticised for its small-scale and operational lifespan.
“We put out our initial preliminary economic assessment for Lofdal in 2014 and our first mineral resource in 2012, and a valid criticism against the project at that time was that it was just too small, being only about a six million tonne resource with less than a seven-year mine life,” he said.
The documentation submitted by the mining project’s environmental consultant, SLR, notes that Lofdal needs to cater for a larger mining and beneficiation operation.
“Since the granting of the environmental clearance certificate for the Lofdal Project, subsequent test work undertaken by NRE has indicated that the resource of the mine is significantly larger than what is outlined in the original 2016 environmental impact assessment.
“It must be noted that only exploration-related work and pilot-scale mining currently take place on site and as such, no infrastructure relating to the Lofdal Mining Project has been established,” noted the report.
The company received clearance from the Ministry of Mines and Energy in 2017 to explore rare earth metals on farm Lofdal in the Kunene region.
The farm is located within the //Huab and Doro !Nawas conservancy areas in the Kunene region.
An environmental audit conducted in June last year by environmental officer Lovisa Amwele noted that the mining project had systems in place for continuous environmental monitoring and mitigation activities.
“The company demonstrated good and proactive environmental management during their exploration activities,” she said.
The project aims to produce a concentrate consisting of rare earth metals including dysprosium and terbium, which are in high demand for use in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other electronics.
Once operational, the expanded mining project will employ approximately 243 permanent employees for the open pit mine and processing plant.
Namibia Critical Minerals entered an agreement with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation to jointly explore, refine and distribute mineral products from Lofdal.
The Japanese company has the right to earn a 50% interest in the project.
Several specialist studies including noise impact, surface water, groundwater and socio-economic assessments will be updated as part of the Lofdal amendment process.
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