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Rare earths

Ionic Rare Earths Limited workers at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Eastern Uganda. Ionic Rare Earths Limited, the Australian mining company, has acquired an additional 34 per cent interest in Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited, the owner of the Makuutu Rare Earths Project, bringing its majority interest in the project to 94 per cent, as it prepares for small-scale production in a few months' time.
Makuutu Rare Earths project

Makuutu funding options remain under review as Ionic plans equity raise

Ionic reports continued Makuutu spending and talks with potential financiers, without setting a replacement timetable for commercial production
A yellow bulldozer beside a large mining machine and conveyor at an open excavation site.
Makuutu Rare Earths project

Uganda should use Makuutu to negotiate up the value chain

Christopher Burke argues that Uganda should use Makuutu’s strategic review to seek commitments on processing, skills and local procurement
Two excavators at a mine
Critical minerals

Rich in minerals, poor in processing: Africa’s green-energy dilemma

A World Bank study finds African countries mine transition minerals but rarely process them, limiting industrial and economic gains
President Donald Trump speaks with President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema of Gabon in the Oval Office, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, before a multilateral luncheon with African leaders

Trump’s Africa summit: offshoring the US’s immigration problem?

Last week, US President Donald Trump hosted a mini-summit with five African leaders at the White House, which was surprising given his stance towards the continent
Landscape photograph of a brown mountain
Critical minerals

Critical minerals and technology dependency: key G20 issues for Africa

Thirty percent of the world’s critical minerals come from Africa, and their access is a priority for South Africa’s government during its G20 presidency this year
Ruth Nankabirwa, the minister of energy and mineral development, after signing the mining licence on 17 January 2024 in Kampala. With her are Patience Singo (left), the country manager of Rwenzori Rare Metals, the owner of the Makuutu project and a subsidiary of Ionic Rare Earths Ltd, and Warren Tregurtha (second left), the chief executive of Rwenzori Rare Metals, and Vincent Kedi, commissioner licencing and administration in the ministry of energy. Ionic Rare Earths Limited said Wednesday that it has been granted a 21-year mining licence by the Ugandan government for the central tenement of its Makuutu heavy rare earths project, paving the way for a final investment decision later this year and production in 2026. The tenement covers 43.78 square kilometres of the project's 298 square kilometres.
Makuutu Rare Earths project

Ionic Rare Earths gets Makuutu mining licence

Ionic Rare Earths Limited said that it has been granted a 21-year mining licence for the central tenement of its Makuutu heavy rare earths project
Ionic Rare Earths Limited workers at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Eastern Uganda. Ionic Rare Earths Limited, the Australian mining company, has acquired an additional 34 per cent interest in Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited, the owner of the Makuutu Rare Earths Project, bringing its majority interest in the project to 94 per cent, as it prepares for small-scale production in a few months' time.
Makuutu Rare Earths project

Ionic Rare Earths increases stake in Makuutu project to 94%, says deal will ease financing negotiations

Mine expected to start production in first quarter next year, albeit small scale and for potential customers and off-takers

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