Lindian brings rare earths sales in-house with Singapore hub

Lindian Resources is establishing a regional office in the global commodity trading hub of Singapore to manage its international sales, marketing and logistics as it charges towards becoming a rare earths producer.

The company says the move to bring its marketing functions in-house is a direct response to “unparalleled demand” for its future products and follows the recent termination of a third-party trading agency agreement with UK-based Gerald Metals.

The new Singapore office will take full control of the sales pipeline for all future monazite concentrate from its giant Kangankunde project in Malawi, in addition to the higher-value mixed rare earth carbonate, or “MREC”, it plans to produce at its facility in Kazakhstan.

Lindian says the new hub will provide greater flexibility, improve its ability to engage directly with global refiners and original equipment manufacturers and deliver significant cost savings by eliminating external marketing fees.

The savvy move to set up a dedicated commercial outpost comes just as the company is rapidly transforming its Kangankunde project from a construction site to an operating mine.

With the haul road to the stage one pit complete, explosives on site and a production drill rig now boring out the first blast pattern, the company says Kangankunde is edging ever closer to production readiness. 

27,000 tonnes of ore have already been stockpiled on the run-of-mine pad to support plant commissioning and ramp-up.

Lindian is targeting first production in the fourth quarter of 2026, underpinned by a massive mineral resource of 261 million tonnes grading 2.19 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO). The deposit features a high-grade starter zone of 26 million tonnes running 3.7 per cent TREO and is considered one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earths projects.

Notably, the company is now fully funded for its stage one development following a recent A$100 million institutional placement. Management says this gives it a largely debt-free pathway to production. 

A feasibility study for the initial development of Kangankunde outlined a lowest-cost quartile operation capable of producing a premium 55 per cent TREO monazite concentrate with no deleterious elements.

The project is also backed by a 15-year offtake deal for 6000 tonnes of monazite concentrate annually with Iluka Resources. The agreement is a central plank of Lindian’s strategy to produce concentrate and higher-value rare earth products.

Another tick in the box for Kangankunde’s monazite concentrate has come from Australia’s nuclear science authority, ANSTO. The agency has formally confirmed that the company’s ore is exempt from classification as a radioactive material for transport purposes, clearing a key logistical hurdle.

Lindian’s vertically integrated strategy extends beyond simply shipping concentrate. The company holds a 51 per cent interest in the SARECO hydrometallurgical processing plant in Kazakhstan, which is slated to upgrade the Kangankunde concentrate into a more valuable mixed rare earth carbonate product. 

The new Singapore office will be responsible for selling both products into global markets.

Whilst management remains focused on delivering the 20,000-tonne-per-annum stage one operation, a much bigger prize may be looming. A feasibility study, due to land in December, for a stage two expansion is evaluating a massive jump in production to 120,000 tonnes of concentrate per year. The study is led by Perth-based DRA Global.

As governments and manufacturers around the world race to secure critical minerals supply chains outside of traditional sources, projects of Kangankunde’s scale and near-term production timeline are as rare as hen’s teeth.

By taking control of its own sales and marketing destiny from a strategic hub like Singapore, Lindian appears to be putting the final commercial cream on the cake. It’s a move that appears to signal the company is thinking beyond the build and preparing to join the exclusive club of global rare earths producers.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au