In Panda Hill, Cradle Resources Ltd (AX:CXX) has a 50% interest in a unique niobium asset in Tanzania. Not only its geology, but also the majority of its metallurgy is entirely conventional.
As such, it is poised to become only the fourth mine in the world to produce a metal so unique that its price did not fall during the 2008/09 global financial crisis. Niobium is deemed ‘strategic’ by the US and ‘critical’ by the EU. Moreover, it is almost the only metal in the world in which China’s consumption is below trend for its GDP per head.
Infrastructure excellent; FID imminent
The Panda Hill project has excellent nearby infrastructure. It is 5km from the main Dar es Salaam-Tunduma highway, 2km from the TAZARA (aka Tanzam) railway line and 8km from Songwe airport.
There is major power infrastructure 26km away in Mbeya and three potential sources of water for the plant, both above and below ground. Cradle has now advanced the project to DFS stage. In the meantime, its partner, Tremont, has been conducting off-take and financing talks, with a view to making a final investment decision (FID) in Q416.
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