Harena Rare Earths has secured formal approval of the exploitation permit for its Ampasindava rare-earth project in Madagascar, enabling the London-listed company to advance environmental assessments, public consultation and management plans ahead of proposed pilot infrastructure.
The approval, marks a regulatory milestone for a project containing neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. These rare earths are used in permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines, industrial motors and defence applications.
Permit Enables Progress Towards Pilot Development
The exploitation permit allows Harena to progress the environmental and planning work required before construction of pilot infrastructure. The project has not yet reached full commercial development, and further regulatory and technical requirements remain outstanding.
The company must secure environmental approvals, validate its processing technology, advance project engineering and arrange a substantially larger financing package before proceeding with full-scale mine development. Harena is targeting production from 2028, subject to successful execution of the project’s development plans and completion of the necessary steps.
Existing Financing Supports Studies and Pilot Activities
Harena has an existing development-financing agreement with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) worth up to approximately €4.34 million. The facility supports project studies and pilot-stage activities. The financing agreement was established previously and does not constitute new funding announced alongside the exploitation permit. It also does not represent full financing for mine construction.
Further capital will be required to advance Ampasindava from its current development stage towards commercial production. The project’s progression will depend on technical validation, regulatory approvals and the securing of additional funding.
Heavy Rare Earths and International Supply Chains
Ampasindava contains minerals relevant to global permanent-magnet supply chains, particularly dysprosium and terbium, for which production and processing are heavily concentrated in China. The project offers a potential alternative source of these materials through a development located in Africa.
For Europe, the project represents a possible route to heavy rare-earth supplies through a London-listed developer, despite the deposit being located outside the continent. Overseas projects are expected to remain relevant to European raw-material strategies because domestic deposits alone are unlikely to meet future demand for magnet metals.
Environmental Approval and Pilot Performance Remain Key Milestones
The exploitation permit improves Ampasindava’s regulatory position, but the project remains between resource development and construction. Environmental approval, confirmation of processing performance through pilot activities, and progress on engineering remain necessary. The next milestones include demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed processing route and converting strategic interest in the project into binding financing and offtake agreements. These steps will be important to advancing the deposit towards the company’s targeted production start in 2028.
