"Renewable energy will play a significant role in the economic recovery after the covid-19 pandemic, with 16 billion dollars in stimulus programmes to foster the energy transition, demand for the type of metals used in offshore wind turbines and electric car construction should increase dramatically," the London Stock Exchange commented in the traditional corporate welcome statement.
The statement warned that "this significant growth and investment in the energy transition to renewables could be hampered by the lack of Rare Earth type metals," but argued that "the Longonjo project in Angola is one of the largest Rare Earth deposits in the world and is the biggest mining development in the last 12 years, guaranteeing diversification to an industry that depends 90 percent on production in the Chinese market.
Considered "the gold of the 21st century" for their rarity and economic value, Rare Lands are metals that serve as an essential raw material for high technology.
"The project will be one of the largest suppliers of magnetic metals key to the energy transition, with strong demand expected for electric vehicles and offshore wind turbine producers," said Pensana Rare Earths president Paul Atherley, quoted in a March statement.
He added that the project "will provide jobs and an economic stimulus at a time when the Angolan government is actively seeking to attract foreign investment to diversify the economy.
"One thing is guaranteed, the green economy will be central to the recovery from the covid-19 pandemic, and offshore wind energy will be one of the main beneficiaries, over the next 20 years demand for this energy is expected to grow 1500 percent, which implies a constant increase in demand for Rare Earths metals at a time when the supply chain is already heavily constrained," the company's chairman said Monday.
The stock market entry "gives British investors direct exposure to the rapidly expanding sectors of electric vehicles and offshore wind energy," concluded Paul Atherley.
According to the terms announced in April for the 20 square kilometre investment in Longonjo municipality, in Huambo province, the prospecting will involve a 2 percent payment on revenues, 20 percent general tax and 5 percent municipal tax after two years of tax exemption, in addition to an exemption on the import of equipment and a three-year exemption for the collection of tax on dividends.
In April last year, it was reported that a mineral prospecting project in the municipality of Longonjo, Huambo province, which lasted about two years, identified 23,000 million tons of valuable metals, known as Rare Lands.
Among the most outstanding features of this type of metal are the conduction of heat and electricity, as well as structures that are highly magnetizable.
Their chemical and physical properties are used in a wide variety of technological applications and are incorporated in superconductors, magnets, catalysts, among others.
They are ores that guarantee unique characteristics to several types of alloys, such as mobile phones, hybrid cars, lasers, among others.
The consumption of these minerals, worldwide, reaches 150 thousand tons/year.
The types of metals known as Rare Lands reach 17. However, six types are better known: neodymium, lanthanum, praseodymium, gadolinium, samarium and cerium.
China is the main producer and market for the ore.
