President of Angola approves 35 year mining licence for Longonjo Rare Earths Project

Angola’s President Lourenço has signalled that the country is open for business by approving a 35 year mining investment contract for the exploitation of the Longonjo rare earth project. This follows the recent investment in Pensana by the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund FSDEA.

The licence has been granted with attractive fiscal terms.
2% royalty on revenue
20% national tax and 5% municipal tax on revenue following an initial two-year tax holiday
Custom duties exemption on imported equipment
Full 5 year capital repayment allowance
Dividend tax exemption for 3 years.

The Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo commented: “The Angolan Presidential approval of the Longonjo Mining Investment Contract reflects the Government’s strong support for foreign investments which help diversify the economy and bring direct social and economic benefits to the communities in which they operate. Pensana’s investment will be one of the largest investments in regional Angola in recent years and will create jobs, provide training, support local businesses as well as improving the social infrastructure within the Huambo region. We look forward to working closely with Pensana in advancing the project over the coming months.”

Pensana CEO Tim George commented:“The Mining Licence is a major milestone for us in the rapid development of the Longonjo project and we are absolutely delighted to have reached it so quickly. The support of the Ministry in expediting the contract is very much acknowledged and is testament to Angola being ‘open for business’ - even during the Covid-19 lockdown. The recent investment in the Company by Angola’s Sovereign Wealth Fund underscores the commitment towards the project which will bring major social and economic benefits to Angola and will help accelerate the diversification of the economy away from the oil and gas and diamonds sectors.We are excited about developing a mine which will not only create major social and economic benefits - and is being developed to the highest ESG standards - but one which will become a major global supplier of the magnet metals critical to our clean energy future.”