Dar es Salaam. Mamba Minerals Ltd, a key stakeholder in the Ngualla Rare Earths Project, has announced that construction of its mining facility at Ngwala Village in Songwe Region will commence in December 2025, with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2026.
The announcement was made during a May 8 meeting held in Dodoma between the Minister for Minerals, Mr Anthony Mavunde, and executives from Mamba Minerals and Shenghe Resources, the company’s strategic partner.
Speaking during the meeting, Mamba Minerals Chairman Mr Russell Scrimshaw said the company has responded positively to the government’s call to expedite the commencement of mining operations.
“We have heeded the government’s call to expedite the commencement of mining operations. Together with our partners from Shenghe, we are committed to beginning construction in December 2025, and our target is to see first production by the end of 2026,” he said.
Shenghe Resources Chairman Mr Quangan Wang noted that the development of the mine would be undertaken concurrently with the construction of a mineral processing and refining plant in Songwe Region.
“We are also planning to build a processing facility in Songwe, along with a 10 to 12-megawatt power plant to serve both the mine and the surrounding communities.”
The project is part of the broader Ngualla Rare Earths development, one of the world’s largest known deposits of Neodymium and Praseodymium (NdPr), vital components in the manufacture of electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, medical imaging devices, and advanced electronics.
Minister Mavunde, in welcoming the developments, said: “I commend Mamba Minerals for adhering to the government’s directive to begin mine development quickly. All medium and large-scale licence holders are legally required to commence mining activities within 18 months, as clearly stated in the Mining Act, Chapter 123.”
He also praised President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s leadership in creating a stable and enabling environment for investment in the mining sector.
Mamba Minerals Corporation Ltd (MML), the operator of the project, is 84 percent owned by Peak Rare Earths through its wholly owned UK subsidiary Ngualla Group UK. The Government of Tanzania holds the remaining 16 percent stake.
The Ngualla deposit was discovered by Peak in August 2010. Since then, the project has undergone a series of development stages including a scoping study in 2012, a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) in 2014, and a bankable feasibility study completed in April 2017 and updated in October 2022.
The Tanzanian government granted a Special Mining Licence (SML) for the project in April 2023. An environmental certificate had been awarded in March 2017.
Situated roughly 147 kilometres from Mbeya, the project is centred on the Ngualla Carbonatite — a pipe-like geological structure rich in carbonate and alkaline igneous rocks, located on the edge of the East African Rift Valley.
In addition to NdPr, the deposit is also known to contain commodities such as niobium, phosphate, barite, fluorite, and vermiculite.
The initial life-of-mine (LOM) is projected at 24 years based on current ore reserves.
Given that the rare earths at Ngualla occur near the surface, the mine will employ conventional open-pit mining techniques with minimal blasting.
During construction, the project is expected to generate approximately 600 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. In the operational phase, it will support around 220 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs.
At full capacity, the site’s multi-stage processing plant will produce approximately 28,300 tonnes of rare earth concentrate annually, with a 45% rare earth oxide (REO) grade.
In October 2022, Peak Rare Earths signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Shenghe Resources (Singapore), a subsidiary of Shenghe Resources Holdings, for the purchase of between 75 percent and 100 percent of the project’s output for an initial term of seven years, extendable by mutual agreement.
SRK Consulting was contracted to prepare the mineral resource estimates and the resource model for the Ngualla deposit.
The Ngualla Project is anticipated to not only add value to Tanzania’s mineral wealth through local beneficiation and export earnings but also catalyse broader economic growth in the Songwe Region and beyond.
