Following a recent policy shift, London-listed Altona Rare Earths has reported that the US government has re-engaged with the company on the possibility of providing funding support for the prefeasibility study on the Monte Muambe rare earths project, in Mozambique.

Altona says a formal project proposal has now been submitted to the US Trade and Development Agency, and the company anticipates material progress to be made over the coming weeks.

This development aligns with Altona's strategy to secure long-term partnerships across the critical raw materials value chain for Monte Muambe.

The company says it will continue to keep shareholders updated as discussions advance.

This comes in the context of the US Department of Defense (DoD) commitment to invest $400-million through a landmark public-private agreement with MP Materials, a US rare earths mining company, to strengthen the US domestic rare earths supply chain and to reduce reliance on China.

The US DoD has become MP Materials' largest shareholder, and the partnership includes a long-term purchase agreement establishing a $110/kg floor price for neodymium/praseodymium oxide, thus underlining the US government's tangible commitment towards supporting sustainable and independent rare earths supply.

"I welcome the renewed engagement with the US government, which highlights the strategic importance of Monte Muambe in the global critical minerals landscape.

“Securing long-term support from a partner of this calibre would not only validate the potential of our project but also place Altona in a stronger position to advance discussions with other strategic stakeholders across the value chain,” says Altona CEO Cedric Simonet.

Meanwhile, following the successful fundraise announced on August 15, Altona has started mobilising resources to launch its fluorspar resource drilling at Monte Muambe in September.

The programme will comprise a minimum of 2 000 m of drilling – about 50 holes – and will provide sufficient samples and data to prepare a Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant fluorspar mineral resource estimate in due course.

The planned average depth of the drillholes is only 45 m – maximum 70 m – as the fluorspar orebodies outcrop at surface level and are conducive for a shallow openpit operation.

Altona says diamond drilling cores will also provide representative ore samples for final metallurgical studies, which will inform processing plant parameters, ore blending strategies, ultimately providing key inputs for the mine plan.

Importantly, the company notes, gallium exploration will run in parallel with the fluorspar drilling, taking advantage of synergies between the two work programmes.

It says this dual approach is expected to yield cost savings while accelerating progress on both resource definition and gallium evaluation.

In addition, the company's exploration team will continue ground-truthing gallium anomalies, with the potential to unlock further high-grade fluorspar discoveries, building on results announced earlier this year.

Simonet explains that rare earths, gallium, and fluorspar are all recognised as essential to defence, technological development and decarbonisation of energy sources. With its diverse geology and commodities, he says Monte Muambe is uniquely positioned to contribute on all three fronts.

Simonet says the combination of this development and the strong backing of the company’s investors gives the company a high degree of confidence as it accelerates the work programmes.

He says advancing the rare earths, gallium and fluorspar work streams in parallel will maximise shareholder value while ensuring it remains aligned with global supply chain priorities.

"As we enter the second half of 2025, I look forward to providing our investors with a news-rich period that includes an exciting drilling campaign at Monte Muambe, expected to rapidly result in a fresh Jorc fluorspar resource estimate to support the fluorspar mine development, as well as to provide a further evaluation of the potential viability of gallium recovery,” Simonet adds.