Harena Rare Earths (LSE:HREE) told investors that Madagascar's government has formalised the exploitation permit for its Ampasindava rare earths project, validating the technical, financial, environmental and social commitments the company made to the Ministry of Mines.
The London-listed company is developing Ampasindava, an ionic clay rare earths project in Madagascar targeting neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, elements used in permanent magnets for defence, robotics and clean energy applications.
The permit follows the signing of the Cahier des Charges Minières on 11 August, which formalised Harena's commitments under Madagascar's 2023 Mining Code and completed the country's mining regulatory process for the project.
With the exploitation permit now formalised, Harena's immediate focus shifts to securing an environmental permit and completing Environmental and Social Management Plans, prerequisites for construction of the project's pilot-phase infrastructure under Madagascar's MECIE framework.
The pilot phase will be supported by Harena's Project Development Funding Agreement with the US International Development Finance Corporation, under which the DFC has committed up to $4.84 million.
That funding is expected to cover a demonstration plant and initial commercial operation designed to validate the project's technical, operational, economic, environmental and social parameters, with results feeding into the Definitive Feasibility Study for full-scale development.
"The formalisation of the Exploitation Permit represents a major milestone for Harena and the Ampasindava project, building on the Mining Terms and Conditions already agreed with the Government of Madagascar," said Ivan Murphy, Harena's executive chairman, adding that the company is targeting production in 2028.
Further updates on the environmental permitting process, the pilot phase and the Definitive Feasibility Study will follow as the project advances toward Murphy's stated 2028 production target.