By Mary Makhiringa

Balaka, Mana: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Lindian Resource Limited, Alistair Stephens has disclosed that the company would be investing over US$200 million (an equivalent of K203 billion) in the exploration and extraction of rare earth minerals at Kangankunde mining site in Balaka.

He said the company was currently doing a feasibility study on the Kangankunde Hills which has minerals like Monazite and Carbonatite which contains rare earth which is a very useful ingredient once processed.

Stephens said this during an interface meeting on Friday between the community around the area with Minister of Mining, Dr. Albert Mbawala, who later toured the mining site.

He said, “We are in a transaction with a company called Referral Resources who were the first to obtain a license to do mining here and we are buying the company. We will now commence the exploration and development of this area where we will be mining monazite which we will sell on the market.

“The monazite mineral contains elements called are earth which are important minerals which go to new technology that produces carbonfootprints which goes to things like electric vehicles, wind farms and mobile equipment,” the CEO said.

Stephens disclosed that the company will be working on the hill from 2024 once the studies have been completed and it will take over 50 years to finish extracting the useful commodity from the hill.

“We will always be in touch with the community as they will be our neighbour, we will do so many corporate social responsibility activities for the communities and a lot of jobs will be created for the people around this area,” he said.

Mbawala said Kangankunde Mining Site would be so big as over 100 million metric tonnes of the mineral would be extracted and this would greatly improve the economy of the country as a lot of money would be realized from the extracted minerals.

“Government is committed to mining that is why it set aside mining as a stand-alone ministry and in two to three years to come, Malawi will have more mining sites, which in turn, will help transform the country,” he added.

Mbawala urged members of the public to always seek for any information they may want regarding the whole process.

“We are doing everything transparently and people can come to our Ministry to hear what we are doing about the mining agreement with the company,” he said.

Senior Chief Chanthunya expressed gratitude for the project, saying it would help change the face of the area with the various corporate social responsibility activities that the company would bring.

“I will work hand in hand with the district council to make sure that people of this area indeed benefit from the mining project. We have the hope that this marks the beginning of a new life for the community,” he said.

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