Mining & Trade News

A cloud of uncertainty is hovering over ASX-listed junior Lindian Resources’ plans to start commercial exportation of monazite concentrate from its Kangankunde Mine in Balaka to its refinery in Kazakhstan in November this year as government is finalising regulations that defines thresholds to which all minerals must be processed before leaving Malawi.

The regulations form part of the Executive Order banning exportation of raw minerals that was issued by State President Arthur Peter Mutharika after coming to power in last year’s general elections.

A well-placed source at the Ministry of Mining told Mining & Trade Review that the regulations include a clause that rare earth bearing ore including monazite that Lindian is mining at Kangankunde  must be processed to rare earth oxides before exportation. 

The source, who opted for anonymity, confided with Mining & Trade Review that the regulations are now drafted and what remains is vetting by the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General’s office.

He explained that the regulations were initially sent to the Ministry of Justice where some areas were identified for improvement and the Ministry has finalised the necessary ratifications and is about to send a final copy to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s office for vetting.

He said: “The Ministry looked at how Malawi can maximise its potential gains from critical minerals such as rare earths, rutile, graphite, niobium, uranium and tantalum. We did not leave anything to chance when looking at value addition for these minerals. I, therefore, confirm that there will be no exemption, rare earth ore from Kangankunde will have to be processed into rare earth oxides before leaving Malawi.”

“This is in accordance with the Presidential Order that seeks to see that Malawi does not miss out on benefits from its critical minerals in several areas including creation of employment and business opportunities through mining as an enabler of Malawi 2063, which is rooted in industrialisation to graduate Malawi into middle income status.”

The source told Mining & Trade Review that chances are high that the regulations will be in force before November this year putting plans of Lindian targeting the same month to start commercial exports to its newly acquired refinery in Kazakhstan in jeopardy.

The Australian junior, which is seeking to grow into mining by controversially using a medium scale mining licence to operate Malawi’s world class Kangankunde monazite deposit, was authorised to export monazite concentrate by former Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority (MMRA) Director General Samuel Sakhuta in scandalous circumstances. Mining & Trade Review uncovered two letters dated October 28, 2025 signed by Sakhuta with one authorising and the other rejecting Lindian to ship the concentrate out of impoverished Malawi due to the Presidential ban.  

Lindian the following day published a Press Statement on the Australian Stock Exchange announcing that Malawi Government had authorised it to export monazite from Kangankunde . The positive announcement culminated into the junior miner signing multimillion-dollar offtake agreements with foreign refiners and raising over a US$100-million to finance its operations at Kangankunde and the Kazakhstan refinery.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has, meanwhile, said is reviewing reports of suspicious correspondence between Sakhuta and Rift Valley Resources Developments operating as Lindian Resources.

“The Bureau will treat it with the urgency it deserves,” said ACB Acting Director General Gabriel Chembezi.

Minister of Mining Honourable Thoko Tembo said his Ministry is waiting to receive comprehensive briefings from relevant technical and regulatory authorities before commenting on the alleged irregularities in the development of Kangankunde Rare Earth Mine.

Tembo said: “I will refrain from commenting on operational details of the Kangankunde Project until I have received comprehensive briefings from the relevant technical and regulatory authorities.”

“Once that process is complete, the Government will communicate its position where appropriate.”

“Our objective is to ensure that Malawi’s mineral resources are developed responsibly, transparently and in a manner that delivers maximum benefits to our citizens.”

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change Tione Hendrie has, mewnwhile, hailed Mining & Trade Review for updating Malawians on the developments at the Kangankunde Rare Earth Mining Project and other projects across Malawi.

Hendrie said in an interview at Parliament that Malawians deserve to be updated on the project as Kangankunde is a globally significant deposit and one of the world’s largest with rare earths classified among the critical minerals by global economic superpowers including the United States and the European Union.

Kangankunde is also set to become the first ever rare earth producing mine in Malawi. 
“We commend you for bringing developments on this mine to light. As a committee, we will sit down and plan to visit Lindian and tour the mine and also discuss with the Ministry of Mining and MMRA,” Hendtrie said.

She stressed that the Committee wants to ensure that the mine is meeting the demands of its licence and the Executive Order banning raw mineral exports.

Meanwhile, sources at the Ministry have revealed that the new regulations have included clauses to enable Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASMs) have relief in the exportation of raw minerals for processing while the government pursues plants to establish mineral value addition sites across Malawi.

The development follows an outcry from ASMs who have been hit hard by the mineral export ban as Malawi lacks processing sites for precious minerals such as gold and gemstones.

The Ministry of Mining is also reviewing the Mines and Minerals Act 2023 to ensure that attributes of the ban are reflected in the new Act.

Lindian Resources launched its first blast officially marking the start of mining earlier this month at a ceremony that was attended by a number of government officials.

Ironically, the Company appointed Sakhuta’s former immediate boss while at MMRA Martin Kaluluma Phiri, who was Principal Secretary (Regulations) in the Ministry of Mining as Country Manager taking over from Seasoned Engineer Trevor Hiwa who held the post after Geologist Chrispin Ngwena who served as the first Country Manager for the company in Malawi. 
 

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