Japanese agency invites Japanese companies to invest in Lofdal mine



The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) has begun a public tender process to invite Japanese industrial partner(s) to participate in the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Joint Venture, as per the joint venture agreement with Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

The closing date for the public tender process is 13 March 2023.

JOGMEC, a Japanese government independent administrative agency, partners with Namibia Critical Metals Inc. on the work being done at the Lofdal Dysprosium-Terbium Project in the Kunene region.

The agency facilitates opportunities with Japanese private companies to secure natural resources supplies for the country's economic development.

Namibia Critical Metals Inc, a Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture Exchange, has a diversified portfolio of critical metal projects within Namibia, including the Epembe Tantalum-Niobium project, Grootfontein nickel-copper, lead-zinc-vanadium, gold, the Otjiwarongo Rare Earths and Gold project, and the Erongo gold project.

The Lofdal deposit is said to have significant amounts of dysprosium and terbium, two of the most valuable heavy rare earth elements.

Dysprosium is used in the data storage system to improve magnets' corrosion resistance properties. It is also used with vanadium to make laser materials and commercial lighting.

Terbium is used as fuel cell stabilisers, manufacturing electronic devices such as sensors, sound bugs, colour TV tubes, and fluorescent lights.

Before the joint venture agreement signed in January 2020, Namibia Critical Metals Inc. had a 95% interest in the Lofdal project, while the historically disadvantaged Namibians had the other 5%.

The non-dilutive agreement required JOGMEC to pay C$25 million (N$325 million) for a 51% controlling stake.

In a statement on 28 November 2022, Namibia Critical Metals said several Japanese companies had shown interest after the news that Lofdal has a lifespan of 16 years and holds out 13 million tonnes of low-grade ore.

The company also said the approximate average annual production is 2 000 tonnes of the total rare earth oxide (treo), including 117 tonnes of dysprosium and 17,5 tonnes of terbium. 

According to the company, Lofdal's preliminary economic assessment was US$632,7 million (N$11,8 billion) before tax and US$391 million (N$7 billion) after tax.

The statement also said Japanese companies were confident in investing in the Lofdal project after issuing a 25-year mining licence.

Work towards delivering a pre-feasibility study for Lofdal 2B-4 has started, and results should be expected within the next 12- 15 months.

Namibia Critical Metals president Darrin Campbell said the joint venture had delivered tremendous results with a six-fold increase to our resources, securing a 25-year mining licence and delivering a very robust preliminary economic assessment. 

"We firmly believe that Lofdal will be a globally significant source of heavy rare earths. We are extremely pleased to see our JOGMEC partners introduce our project to some of the large Japanese industrial partners that can accelerate the development of Lofdal," Campbell said.


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