Under the agreement with JOGMEC, the Lofdal heavy rare earth project will be held in a subsidiary of Namibia Critical Metals
Namibia Critical Metals, JOGMEC partner to develop Lofdal Project (Credit: Pixabay/Linus Schütz)
Namibia Critical Metals has partnered with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) to jointly explore, develop, exploit, refine and distribute mineral products from its Lofdal heavy rare earth project in Namibia.
The Lofdal heavy rare earths project is located 450km northwest of the capital city of Windhoek, and around 25km northwest of the town of Khorixas in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia.
The project includes Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL) 3400, covers a total of 314km2 centered on the Lofdal carbonatite complex which hosts a number of rare earth occurrences, including the Area 4 deposit.
Namibia Critical Metals chief executive officer Pine van Wyk said: “This partnership with JOGMEC brings strong technical and financial capacities to move the Lofdal project forward. It provides alignment with, and access to significant industrial groups in Japan looking to secure long-term supplies of dysprosium, terbium and other heavy rare earths.
“It should also be noted that this agreement is structured such that no equity will be issued and is totally non-dilutive to NMI shareholders. JOGMEC is mandated to seek a stable supply of natural resources for Japan and we are delighted that they have recognized the potential of Lofdal.”
Lofdal project will be held in a subsidiary of Namibia Critical Metals
Under the collaboration agreement, the Lofdal project will be held in a subsidiary of Namibia Critical Metals (ProjectCo), and JOGMEC will hold the right to earn a 50% interest in the project, in exchange for funding CAD20,000,000 ($15,150,000) in exploration and development expenditures on the project in three phases.
JOGMEC will gain the right to purchase an additional 1% interest in the project for CAD 5,000,000 ($3,787,300), after exercising its 50% earn-in and the completion of a feasibility study on the project.
In addition, JOGMEC is also provided with an option to fund the development of the project, ensuring that Namibia Critical Metals’ interest is not diluted to below 26%.