Pensana launches $11m drilling and testing programme at Longonjo

(Sharecast News) - Pensana announced an $11m drilling and metallurgical testwork programme at its Longonjo rare earths project in Angola on Monday, aiming to increase the current mineral resource estimate to more than one billion tonnes and position the deposit among the largest ever developed. The company said the Longonjo orebody, which currently hosts 313 million tonnes at 1.43% total rare earth oxides, comprises a near-surface blanket of high-grade NdPr-rich mineralisation averaging around 30 metres in depth, with previous drilling confirming extensions well beyond 100 metres.

A 25,000-metre vertical core drilling campaign would start early next year to extend the JORC-compliant resource estimate to over one billion tonnes at a similar grade.

Metallurgical sampling and testwork would run alongside drilling to support mine planning and processing optimisation, with results released as they come through.

Chairman Paul Atherley said China's plans to expand rare earth processing at its Bayan Obo mine underscored the growing dominance of large, integrated supply chains.

"We are fortunate that the style of mineralisation at Longonjo is known to have very significant depth extensions and we are very confident that this programme will rapidly deliver a substantial increase to our already world-class resource inventory," he said.

He added that investments along the Lobito Corridor would help Longonjo "rapidly scale up production to meet the growing demand from the US."

Atherley also highlighted Pensana's partnership with eVAC to build a mine-to-magnet supply chain in the United States.

"This major new fully integrated mine to magnet supply chain is expected to capture the interest of major offtake partners looking to reduce their exposure to China's export controls," he said.

Under the agreement, Longonjo would supply feedstock to eVAC's new advanced magnetics facility in Sumter, South Carolina, which planned to increase production from 2,000 tonnes of magnets to 12,000 tonnes per year by 2029.

Pensana said it had spent $70m over six years on exploration and technical studies at Longonjo, where it had delineated a near-surface JORC reserve of 22 million tonnes grading 3.04% TREO, including 139,457 tonnes of NdPr oxide.

The company said it aimed to produce 20,000 tonnes of mixed rare earth carbonate in its first phase, rising to 40,000 tonnes in a proposed expansion that would represent about 5% of current global production capable of being converted into permanent magnets.

The project was expected to generate hundreds of local jobs, support regional businesses and deliver significant fiscal benefits to Angola, with the company emphasising its commitment to high environmental and community standards.

At 0937 GMT, shares in Pensana were up 2.1% at 97.4p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.