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Namibia Critical Metals’ partner JOGMEC has committed an additional C$300,000 to the ongoing Lofdal joint venture exploration program.
JOGMEC has approved expenditures totalling C$10,375,000 through to May 31, 2023, which satisfies the Term 2 Expenditure requirement of C$10 million to earn 40% interest in the Lofdal Project.
According to Namibia Critical Metals, the Company is currently completing a corporate restructuring to facilitate JOGMEC’s holding of its initial 40 percent interest in the Lofdal Project as they move into Term 3 of the agreement in June 2023.
“We are thrilled to have the continued support and backing of our JOGMEC partner and their commitment to advancing Lofdal to production. Lofdal is clearly an important strategic investment for JOGMEC and Japan as they move to reduce reliance on China for supply of heavy rare earth metals.
“Together we have made very impressive progress in establishing Lofdal as a globally significant heavy rare earth project. I am also excited to travel to Japan in June to showcase our project to several top tier Japanese industrial companies,” said Darrin Campbell, President of Namibia Critical Metals.
Campbell said the company has also been advised by its JOGMEC partner that further to the public tender process announced on November 28, 2022, there was no acceptable offer received from a Japanese industrial company to acquire JOGMEC’s interest in the Lofdal Project.
In addition, the company is scheduled to present the results of Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and the Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) currently under way to several Japanese companies in Tokyo and Osaka in late June in order to assist JOGMEC to identify an acceptable Japanese party.
On the other hand, the Company continues to advance the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth project in Namibia. The Company filed a robust PEA for its expanded Lofdal 2B-4 Project on November 14, 2022, with a pre-tax NPV of USD$632.7 million and an annual IRR of 34 percent pre-tax with a capital expenditure of USD$207 million. The project is projected to generate a life of mine nominal cash flow of USD$1.1 billion pre-tax over a 16-year mine life. The November 14, 2022 PEA is based on mining and processing only 50 percent of the NI43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate.
Meanwhile the Company has commenced work towards delivering a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the significantly larger project ‘Lofdal 2B-4’ within the next 12 months with geotechnical drilling completed and in-fill resource drilling ongoing. The Company has also commenced pilot plant flotation work with SGS Canada Inc.
The Lofdal deposit has the potential for significant production of dysprosium and terbium, two of the most valuable heavy rare earth elements and is targeting to become a long term, sustainable supply of heavy rare earths.
