Lindian lands 30Kt per annum Malawian rare earths offtake

Lindian Resources’ share price surged more than 17 per cent in early trades today, reaching a high of 44.75 cents on heavy turnover after the company revealed it had secured a binding offtake term sheet for 30,000 tonnes per annum of monazite concentrate from its giant Malawian Kangankunde rare earths project.

The deal locks in a major global refining group as a customer ahead of first production.

The contract, executed by Lindian’s Singapore-based subsidiary, Lindian Global Rare Earths, embraces two delivery phases. Stage one covers 10,000 dry metric tonnes over an initial one-year term, with first shipments slated to sail from Nacala Port in January 2027. Stage two of the arrangement commits the buyer to taking a further 20,000 dry metric tonnes per year over a subsequent five-year period.

Lindian’s latest agreement adds another major international player to an already impressive and geographically diverse customer list. The company has already lined up a long-term supply arrangement with Iluka Resources to deliver 6000 tonnes of concentrate per year to the Eneabba rare earths refinery, currently under development on WA’s west coast, north of Perth, in partnership with the Australian Federal government.

In Europe, Lindian also has a binding dual offtake arrangement with French group Carester, which will directly purchase 70 per cent of the mixed heavy rare earths compound/carbonate (SEGH) produced by Lindian’s downstream processing SARECO facility in Kazakhstan. Separately, Carester also holds a first right of refusal over 70 per cent of SARECO’s standard mixed heavy rare earths carbonate (MHREC) production.

‘We look forward to working with our potential partners and the Malawian and Kazakhstan governments to finalise the remaining stage 2 offtakes.’

Lindian executive chairman Robert Martin

The distinction between MHREC and SEGH is that MHREC is an earlier or intermediate mixed carbonate product generated from cracking, leaching and hydrometallurgical processing undertaken at the SARECO facility in Kazakhstan, while SEGH is a more refined heavy rare earth stream.

SEGH will be produced alongside separated light rare earths – such as neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) – once the planned solvent extraction and oxide separation facility in Stepnogorsk is operational. SEGH is specifically enriched with high-value heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium (TbDy), which command significantly higher pricing and will feed directly into specialised downstream plants, including the Caremag Refinery in Lacq, France.

Lindian says its stage one concentrate capacity from Kangankunde is now fully allocated between its offtake partners and its own internal supply to the SARECO processing facility. The company has retained 4,000 dry metric tonnes per year from stage one for its own downstream ambitions.

Lindian executive chairman Robert Martin said: “This binding Term Sheet represents another significant milestone for Lindian, with Kangankunde Stage 1 Concentrate capacity now fully allocated between our offtake partners and our own SARECO MREC facility, and with over 45,000dmt of Stage 2 volumes procured. With high-quality customers across multiple supply chains, we have established a truly global offtake portfolio ahead of first production in December.”

Pricing for the new offtake is linked to the Asian Metals Index. It includes a basket of 10 payable rare earth elements, with the high-value “magnet” metals representing the majority of the product’s revenue. Payment will be secured through a standard letter of credit issued before shipment.

The deal provides a strong vote of confidence in Kangankunde’s high-quality concentrate, expected to average 54 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), with low levels of radioactive elements. It also comes as Western economies scramble to loosen China’s longstanding grip on global rare earths supply chains.

The market is placing a significant premium on projects that can connect mine supply with refining capacity outside of China, particularly for the critical “magnet” rare earth metals neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, essential for the manufacture of electric vehicles and wind turbines along with many other electrical and electronic devices.

Lindian’s Kangankunde project is widely regarded as one of the world’s most significant rare earths deposits, hosting a mineral resource of 261 million tonnes grading an impressive 2.19 per cent TREO.

Operationally, the company says development of the fully funded stage one project is well advanced, with first concentrate production targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. According to its latest quarterly report, Lindian holds a healthy cash position of $45 million, with total liquidity of $62 million, including undrawn finance facilities.

Concentrate is planned to be shipped through Port Nacala in Nampula province on Mozambique’s northern Indian Ocean coast. It is the deepest of Southern Africa’s natural deep-water harbours, making it a crucial maritime gateway for the landlocked nation of Malawi.

Notably, the port is linked to Malawi via the international Nacala Development Corridor – a multi-mode transport route featuring a 920-kilometre-long rail and road network connecting the port directly to Malawi – and onward into neighbouring Zambia.

With construction humming along in Malawi, a suite of top-tier global customers locked in for the lion’s share of its product and a strong balance sheet, Lindian appears to be rounding the final corner before the long back-straight. It is picking up pace towards becoming a significant new producer in the strategically vital rare earths market, just as the West looks for new, reliable sources of supply.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au