An incredible volcano in Africa is home to a “rare and highly sought-after strategic metal” used in electronic and high-tech applications such as radars, light diodes, or semiconductors. Altona Rare Earths, a company looking for critical rare materials in Africa, addressed the markets on Tuesday, revealing that concentrations of up to 232 grams of gallium per tonne have been found.
Monte Muambe, an inactive volcano in Tete province, central Mozambique, stands 2560 ft tall, located east of Moatize, with an outer diameter of six kilometres and a caldera about 200 metres deep composed of carbonatites rich in blue and yellow fluorite, which in turn contain gallium. An intriguing natural wonder, this towering geological feature, once a volcanic hotspot, now presents a rich trove of resources. It has an impressive caldera about 200 metres deep, with carbonatites that are abundant in blue and yellow fluorite – minerals that contain gallium.
Located east of Moatize, this volcano is just one of the fascinating geological formations found in Mozambique, a country celebrated for its biological and cultural diversity as well as its tropical climate.
Mozambique’s landscape offers more than scenic beauty; it’s also a rich natural resource hub. Altona’s discovery adds to the growing interest in the country’s mineral potential. The company is still in the process of assessing the full extent of gallium mineralisation at the Monte Muambe site, with further exploration planned to better understand its recoverability.
According to the company listed on the London Stock Exchange, as of now, the price of gallium is around £197 per kilogram. They noted recent increases in value “in the context of a trade war between China and the United States.”
“Gallium is considered a strategic raw material by several jurisdictions, including the European Union, with China having almost a monopoly on its production (…) The recent ban on exports of gallium and germanium to the United States pushed gallium to its highest price since 2011, reaching 585 dollars (£460) per kilogram in December,” states Altona.
The company mentions that the full extent of gallium mineralisation at this site, which has potential for rare earth exploration, remains “unknown and will be assessed as part of the next fieldwork campaign,” where they will “verify the potential recoverability of gallium.”
Altona adds that they are awaiting results from samples taken from the site, sent for analysis in Zimbabwe – a process that faced “logistical difficulties caused by post-election instability in Mozambique, which has now subsided.” “The results of these tests are expected in April,” they further state.
Altona’s CEO Cedric Simonet claims this discovery “is a positive development” and “supports the potential for additional discoveries at Monte Muambe.” “While current work on the potential for short-term fluorite production continues, we will initially carefully assess the possibility of recovering gallium as a by-product of rare earths and/or fluorite and the potential extent of gallium mineralisation at surface level,” Simonet adds.
