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— The commitment: The US International Development Finance Corporation has committed up to US$4.48 million to the Ampasindava rare earths project.
— What it pays for: Pilot-plant work, laboratory testing and environmental programmes, with the door left open to larger funding later.
— The project: London-listed Harena Rare Earths owns and is developing Ampasindava, a scheme put at roughly US$150 million.
— The metals: The ionic clay deposit holds neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium.
— The output: About 4,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides a year, including 1,700 tonnes of high-value magnet metals.
— The timetable: Harena is seeking an exploitation permit and targets production by the middle of 2028.
— Where it would be refined: The company is weighing options in the United States and Europe, naming MP Materials, USA Rare Earths and Solvay.
Madagascar rare earths have drawn direct American money, with Washington s development finance agency committing up to US$4.48 million to the Ampasindava project. Reuters reported the decision on 28 July, and the State Department has framed it plainly as a move against China s grip on magnet metals.
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The US International Development Finance Corporation has committed up to US$4.48 million to Harena Rare Earths for work at Ampasindava, the company said last week. The money funds a pilot plant, laboratory testing and environmental programmes.
By the standards of mine finance that is a rounding error. The project itself is put at roughly US$150 million, and the agency has said it could consider more, subject to due diligence and approvals.
What makes it worth reading is the label attached. A State Department spokesperson told Reuters that Washington s critical minerals strategy in Africa aims to increase American investment in sectors long shaped by "opaque, predatory investments from our adversaries".
The deposit is ionic clay, a type that can often be processed more cheaply than hard-rock ore. It contains neodymium and praseodymium, and crucially also dysprosium and terbium.
Those last two are the heavy rare earths that keep a permanent magnet working when it heats up. Without them a magnet fails in the places that matter most, from electric motors to guidance systems.