MKANGO’S SONGWE HILL RARE EARTH MINING PROJECT ANNOUNCED AS A STRATEGIC PROJECT UNDER EUROPEAN UNION CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS ACT
Mkango Resources Ltd. (AIM/TSX-V: MKA) is pleased to announce that the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Mining Project in Malawi (“Songwe”) has been designated as a Strategic Project by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act (“CRMA”).
· Strategic Project status confirms the importance of Songwe in supplying rare earths to supply chains across Europe, North America and other markets.
· Songwe is one of the very few rare earth projects globally to have advanced to the NI 43-101 compliant Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) stage, with a full Environmental, Social, Health Impact Assessment (“ESHIA”) also completed in compliance with IFC Performance Standards. A mining development agreement was signed with the Government of Malawi in July 2024.
· Based on the DFS, Songwe has an expected mine life of 18 years and will produce a mixed rare earth carbonate (“MREC”), containing approximately 1,953 tonnes per annum of neodymium / praseodymium oxides and 56 tonnes per annum of dysprosium / terbium oxides for the first five years of full production.
· Mkango’s Pulawy Separation Project in Poland (“Pulawy”), which will process the MREC from Songwe, was also previously designated a Strategic Project under the CRMA in March 2025 (News | Mkango Resources Ltd.).
· Songwe and Pulawy will provide an integrated pure-play mined and refined supply of rare earth oxides, with both projects designated strategic by the European Commission.
· As designated Strategic Projects, Songwe and Pulawy will benefit from coordinated support from the EU Member States and financial institutions, in particular in terms of access to finance and in supporting projects by facilitating connections with future off-takers.
Strategic Project Status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act
A list of 47 strategic critical raw material projects designated as Strategic Projects under Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of the European Parliament and of the Council, commonly referred to as the Critical Raw Materials Act was released on 25 March 2025. At that time, Pulawy was announced as one of the EU-based strategic projects, with a further list of 13 international projects released today including Songwe, one of only two rare earths projects.
Songwe has been assessed by the EU to be highly important to the EU’s supply security of strategic raw materials and possesses viable technical feasibility within reasonable timeframes. Under the CRMA, the project is required to be implemented in a sustainable manner, minimising environmental and social impacts.
Obtaining Strategic Project status offers key advantages for developers, significantly facilitating and accelerating the development of strategic raw materials projects within and outside the EU.
As previously announced on 8 January 2025, a proposed SPAC merger (the “Merger”) between Mkango’s subsidiary, Lancaster Exploration Limited (“Lancaster”), and certain other wholly-owned subsidiaries of Mkango and Crown PropTech Acquisitions (“CPTK”) will create a vertically integrated global pure play rare earths platform that is intended to result in the ordinary shares of Lancaster being listed on NASDAQ. Upon the Merger and listing, Lancaster, as the listed entity, will hold the Songwe and Pulawy Projects.
About Mkango Resources Ltd.
Mkango is listed on the AIM and the TSX-V. Mkango’s corporate strategy is to become a market leader in the production of recycled rare earth magnets, alloys and oxides, through its interest in Maginito Limited (“Maginito”), which is owned 79.4 per cent by Mkango and 20.6 per cent by CoTec Holdings Corp (“CoTec”), and to develop new sustainable sources of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to supply accelerating demand from electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.
Maginito holds a 100 per cent interest in HyProMag Limited (HyProMag”) and a 90 per cent direct and indirect interest (assuming conversion of Maginito’s convertible loan) in HyProMag GmbH (“HyProMag Germany”), focused on short loop rare earth magnet recycling in the UK and Germany, respectively, and a 100 per cent interest in Mkango Rare Earths UK Ltd (“Mkango UK”), focused on long loop rare earth magnet recycling in the UK via a chemical route.
Maginito and CoTec are also rolling out HPMS recycling technology into the United States via the 50/50 owned HyProMag USA LLC joint venture company (“HyProMag USA”).
Songwe is one of the few rare earth projects to have advanced to the NI 43-101 compliant Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) stage. The project has an expected mine life of 18 years and is designed to produce a 55% mixed rare earth carbonate, yielding approximately 1,953 tonnes per annum of NdPr and 56 tonnes per annum of DyTb.
The proposed Pulawy separation facility site is located in a Special Economic Zone in Poland stands adjacent to the EU’s second largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilisers, and features established infrastructure, access to reagents and utilities on site.
For more information, please visit www.mkango.ca
For further information on Mkango, please contact:
Mkango Resources Limited
William Dawes Alexander Lemon Robert Sewell
Chief Executive Officer President Chief Financial Officer
will@mkango.ca alex@mkango.ca rob@mkango.ca
Burton Kachinjika Dr. Jarosław Pączek
Country Director – Malawi Country Director – Poland
burton@mkango.ca jpaczek@mkango.ca
Canada: +1 403 444 5979
Poland: +48 664 144 130
www.mkango.ca
@MkangoResources
