News News
Contact us
  • Customer service number:64321087
  • Commercial service telephone:13918059423
  • Technical service telephone:13918059423
  • Contact person: Mr. Cui 
  • Service email:shxtb@163.com
  • Address: room 107, building 8, no. 100, guilin road, xuhui district, Shanghai

Ionic wins licence in Uganda for rare earth elements mining

The date of: 2023-10-23
viewed: 0
source:Mining Technology


Australian mineral exploration company Ionic Rare Earths has secured a large-scale mining licence from the Ugandan Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) for the Makuutu heavy rare earth project.
The licence was secured by Rwenzori Rare Metals, a company in which Ionic Rare Earths owns a 51% interest, while Rare Earth Elements Africa (REEA) holds a 42% stake. Ugandan Partners holds the remaining 7% stake.
Rwenzori holds a 100% stake in the Makuutu project, which covers around 298km² and includes six licences.
Located 40km from Jinja and 120km from the Ugandan capital city of Kampala, the project has a geology that hosts heavy rare earth oxides (HREO). These metal oxides can be extracted using rudimentary mining and processing methods.
The project is said to have a current mineral resource estimate of 532 million tonnes at 640ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO), with a cut-off grade of 200ppm total rare earth oxides minus cerium (TREO-CeO₂).
Stage one of the mining licence covers an area set for Ionic’s mining licence that constitutes 44km² of Makuutu’s tenements covering 298km² of land.
Ionic also released a positive feasibility study earlier this year and has received approval to build a demonstration plant at the project.
Ionic Rare Earths managing director Tim Harrison said: “We are pleased with the announcement today that the DGSM has officially approved for granting the large-scale mining licence TN03834 over RL 1693, which now completes all regulatory approvals on the award of the mining licence for the Makuutu heavy rare earth project.
“This is a vital step for Ionic Rare Earths and Rwenzori, and in mining, refining, and recycling heavy rare earths critical for the energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and defence.”
Harrison added: “This announcement reinforces the Makuutu project as one of the world’s largest and most advanced development-ready heavy rare earth element assets, and we look forward to progressing the next steps and commissioning our Demonstration Plant at Makuutu.”



Hot News / Related to recommend
  • 2025 - 04 - 25
    Click on the number of times: 0
    source:ACS PubicationsRare-earth adatoms on surfaces have been studied for potential atomic-scale magnetic storage, quantum sensing, and quantum computing applications. Despite accumulating experiment...
  • 2025 - 04 - 24
    Click on the number of times: 0
    source:National Research University Higher School of EconomicsResearchers at HSE University and the Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of the Russian Academy of Sciences have discovered a way to con...
  • 2025 - 04 - 23
    Click on the number of times: 0
    source:msnWestern Digital says it's created an initiative to retrieve rare earth metals from hard drives that are being cycled out of data centers.The tech company, best known for its digital stor...
  • 2025 - 04 - 22
    Click on the number of times: 0
    source:TRELLISMicrosoft is expanding electronic waste collection from its data centers with a new initiative to recover rare earth elements and precious metals from hard drives without using acids.The...
  • Copyright ©Copyright 2018 2020 Shanghai rare earth association All Rights Reserved Shanghai ICP NO.2020034223
    the host:Shanghai Association of Rare Earth the guide:Shanghai Development and Application Office of Rare Earth the organizer:Shanghai rare earth industry promotion center
    犀牛云提供云计算服务