Lindian Resources has achieved a major milestone for its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, with Australia's national nuclear science agency ANSTO confirming that its monazite ore can be processed into a premium mixed rare earth carbonate grading 54% total rare earths oxide concentrate. The concentrate contains an elite 20% of the lucrative magnet rare earths neodymium and praseodymium.
ANSTO, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, is a global leader in rare earths metallurgy and radioactivity classification. Its testing regime carries weight with separation plants, regulators, and downstream processors worldwide. The Kangankunde concentrate itself assays at 55.9% TREO, with monazite making up 83% of the mineral mix, indicating naturally rich minerals for magnetic rare earths with minimal waste.
A key feature is the radiation profile. ANSTO classified the concentrate as non-radioactive for transport, a rare outcome for monazite, which typically requires Class 7 handling due to thorium and uranium levels. This classification widens the potential customer base and reduces compliance overheads. The testwork used a standard sulphuric-acid bake, extracting 91–94% of all rare earths and 93–97% NdPr, with over 90% dissolving in the first hour of leaching.
The leach solutions were cleaned to remove calcium, phosphorus, iron, and other gangue elements while retaining over 90% of rare earths. The final mixed rare earth carbonate achieved 54% TREO with 10.7% Nd2O3+Pr6O11, reflecting Kangankunde's strong magnet-rare-earths bias. Uranium and thorium were below detection limits, eliminating the need for additional polishing steps. Overall recoveries reached 92% TREO and up to 97% NdPr.
The flowsheet uses familiar reagents, ambient-temperature leaching, and standard unit operations, reducing development risk. ANSTO is optimizing acid consumption, currently at 1.2–1.4 tonnes of sulphuric acid per tonne of concentrate, and running a parallel caustic-conversion program for optionality. Lindian will use the data to engage with separation plants and strategic groups seeking feedstocks with minimal compliance overheads and strong NdPr exposure.
Kangankunde's ore reserve stands at 23.7 million tonnes probable grading 2.9% TREO for 676,000 tonnes of contained TREO, including 20% light magnet rare earths. The mine life is 45 years, and a June 2024 feasibility study showed an NPV of US$794 million with one of the lowest capital costs globally at US$40 million.
