Fluor faces a former client in Kenya’s rare earth race
NAIROBI — US engineering group Fluor is competing against a company it worked with in Australia for the right to develop Kenya’s Mrima Hill mineral deposit. Fluor and Tetra Tech are part of a bid by Meridian Mineral Holdings, while Iluka Resources, which worked with Fluor on the Eneabba rare earths refinery in Western Australia, has teamed up with Australian miner RareX. The two groups are among five that submitted tenders on 21 October after two Chinese companies withdrew, Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Ali Joho told Reuters. reuters.com
Processing expertise divides former partners
Kenya is seeking a developer for rare earths and niobium at Mrima Hill in Kwale County, about 65 kilometres from Mombasa. The deposit includes neodymium, used in powerful magnets, and niobium, used to strengthen steel. Kenya’s tender called for operators with experience exploring and mining these specialist minerals. gaa.go.ke
The rival bids have raised a question over who can use the processing technology developed for Eneabba. A representative of the RareX and Iluka consortium told Reuters that Fluor held no licence to use Iluka’s intellectual property from the refinery and that Iluka could take legal action if it believed the technology was being used for Mrima Hill. The warning concerned a possible future plant. Fluor and Meridian did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. reuters.com
Where the $62 billion estimate came from
The figure associated with Mrima Hill dates to 2013, when a former prospector estimated the value of the minerals in the ground. According to the Financial Times, the calculation excluded the cost of extracting and processing them. How much of the deposit can be mined economically, and what Kenya could earn from it, remain open questions. The site also contains a sacred forest shrine, the Mrima Hill Kaya, whose future is a concern for the surrounding community. ft.com
Three other groups remain in contention. Frontier Minerals includes US rare earths processor ReElement Technologies, Critical Metals Corp leads the Mrima Earth consortium, and Gem of Dreams is a Kenyan and British joint venture. Joho said on 30 October that he expected Kenya to select a developer within two to three weeks. reuters.com
Anyone with additional information can contact the press desk at press@townpress.co.za or drop a tip.