Mkango Resources Limited Unaffected By Malawi Executive Order No. 2
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On October 28, 2025, Mkango Resources announced that its Songwe Hill rare earths mining project in Malawi is unaffected by the newly enacted Executive Order No. 2, which prohibits the export of raw, unprocessed minerals from the country. The company clarified that its development plan for Songwe Hill has always involved the production of a value-added, processed product on-site—a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC)—which is not subject to this export ban.
This news is materially positive as it provides crucial and timely clarification on a significant emerging sovereign risk. The Malawian government's ban on raw mineral exports could have been a fatal blow to the Songwe Hill project if the company had planned to ship unprocessed ore.
By confirming that their existing, long-stated plan to produce a value-added MREC in Malawi aligns with the new government policy, Mkango has effectively neutralized this specific political threat. While this is not new positive information about the project's economics or geology, it removes a major uncertainty and reinforces the project's viability and alignment with national interests in Malawi. This de-risking event is highly significant for a company whose flagship mining asset is located in a jurisdiction with elevated sovereign risk. The market can now proceed with greater confidence that the government's resource nationalism policies will not derail the Songwe Hill development plan as currently conceived.
The stock has experienced extreme volatility recently, with a trading halt on October 23rd following a spike to C$3.01. This news provides a fundamental anchor of stability for the company's core mining asset amid the market noise.
Mkango Resources is pursuing a dual strategy in the rare earths sector. 1. Upstream Mining and Separation: Its primary asset is the advanced-stage Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project in Malawi. A 2022 Definitive Feasibility Study outlined an 18-year mine life producing a mixed rare earth carbonate. This MREC is planned to be shipped to a dedicated separation plant in Pulawy, Poland, to produce separated rare earth oxides. Both Songwe Hill and Pulawy have been designated as "Strategic Projects" under the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act. Mkango is in the process of listing these assets on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger with Crown PropTech Acquisitions. 2. Downstream Recycling: Through its majority-owned subsidiary Maginito Ltd. (in partnership with CoTec Holdings), Mkango is commercializing a patented rare earth magnet recycling technology (HPMS). It is developing recycling hubs in the UK (Tyseley, first production in July 2025), Germany (Pforzheim, target production end-2025), and the USA (Texas, target production H1 2027).