• Pensana to launch $11M drilling program at Angola’s Longonjo rare earths site
  
• Aims to raise resource estimate above 1 billion metric tons by 2026
  
• Project seen as strategic for U.S. rare earth supply diversification
  

British mining company Pensana plans to launch an 11 million dollar drilling program at its Longonjo rare earths project in Angola in early 2026. Construction of the mine began earlier this year.

The company said in a statement on Monday, November 17, that the goal is to lift Longonjo’s current resource estimate to more than 1 billion metric tons. Such an increase would place the site among the largest rare earth deposits ever identified worldwide.

Pensana plans to carry out a 25,000-meter vertical core drilling program at the site. The campaign will build on earlier work that confirmed the mineralization extends at depth. Longonjo currently hosts a mineral resource of 313 million tons grading 1.43 percent Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO).

The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2027. Initial output is expected to reach 20,000 tons of Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) concentrate, with capacity set to grow to 40,000 tons.

As construction continues, Pensana says the new drilling program could further improve the project’s economics. A larger resource base would extend the current 20 year mine life. It is not yet clear whether the program will reach its target, and any additional resources would still need to be converted into mineable reserves.

Longonjo is regarded as a strategic project for the United States, which is seeking to diversify rare earth supply away from China, the world’s dominant producer and refiner. In October, Pensana signed an agreement with permanent magnet manufacturer VAC to develop a mine-to-magnet supply chain in the United States using future production from Longonjo.

Aurel Sèdjro Houenou