A consortium comprising two Australian companies has been formed to pursue rare earth minerals in Kenya. RareX Limited and Iluka Resources Limited formed the consortium to apply for the Mrima Hill rare earth-niobium-phosphate-manganese project.
Mrima Hill is a globally significant rare earth project in Kwale County in Kenya, less than 100km from Mombasa, 15km from the Indian Ocean coast, next to a sealed highway and close to geothermal power grids. It is also prospective for phosphate, niobium and manganese
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in a press release dated April 22, 2025, said that the proposal has been submitted to the National Mining Corporation (NAMICO) under the Kenya Mining Act chapter 306, Laws of Kenya (“Mining Act”).
According to ASX, the proposal also seeks to establish a joint venture for the project’s de-risking and development through the formation of a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”).
“RareX Limited (ASX: REE, REEO) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a consortium agreement with Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU) to apply for the Mrima Hill rare earth-niobium-phosphate-manganese project licence (“the Project”, “Mrima Hill”)(“Consortium Agreement”), and that the consortium has made a formal application to the National Mining Corporation of Kenya (“NAMICO”), which has now been formally receipted by NAMICO,” read part of the press release.
Details of the RareX and Iluka Resources consortium
If successful, the proposal will be presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Ali Hassan Joho to contemplate the formation of a joint venture with NAMICO.
At the same time, ASX said that the formation of a special purpose vehicle will allow for RareX to take the lead in the project focusing on community engagement, environmental protection and technical derisking.
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This is through studies and field work, aligned to RareX’s skills and experiences, particularly from Cummins Range which is a similar style deposit and from which learnings can be directly applied.
If the proposal is successful, Iluka will be granted a 25% ownership in the SPV with RareX for at least a 20% economic interest in the project throughout the prospecting license phase and until a mining license is granted.
RareX will fund all costs incurred by the consortium until the mining license is granted.
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Extra Details of consortium seeking Mrima Hill project rights
In addition, the consortium agreement includes a binding conditional offtake term sheet with Iluka for all rare earth and heavy mineral product from Mrima Hill with rare earths having the potential to feed the Eneabba refinery facility in Western Australia, a coastal facility on the Indian Ocean.
Eneabba is under construction and supported by anAU$1.65B Australian federal government non-recourse loan.
The consortium proposal submission to NAMICO contains support from a range of potential technical and financial partners including from Curtin University who, under an MOU with RareX, intend to support RareX in transferring skills to Kenyans to immediately support the project and prepare to operate the project in the longer term.
“At present, there are no guarantees that the consortium’s application for the Mrima Hill Project will be accepted and that the consortium will be invited to negotiate with NAMICO and the State Department for Mining the terms on which the proposed Prospecting Licence will be granted,” added ASX.
“The grant of the Prospecting Licence remains subject to discretion of NAMICO and the Cabinet Secretary and therefore investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the grant of the Prospecting Licence.”
Mrima Hill has been ranked among the top five regions in the world with rare earth deposits, with a potential in-ground value of up to approximately Ksh5.4 trillion.
This region also contains niobium deposits projected to have a value of $35 billion (approximately Ksh4.5 trillion).
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