Lubango - The Australian company Frontier Group CRM PTY LDA has said it intends to invest 80 million dollars in lithium exploration in Quilengues municipality, central Huíla province, the director of the Provincial Office for Integrated Economic Development, Domingos Kalumana has said.
Lithium, also called "white oil" or "white gold", is a light and flexible alkaline metal, silver-grey in color, traditionally used in glass and ceramics, as it provides greater adherence and hardness, as well as in alloys with high specific strength "resistance-weight" used in aircraft.
Today, it is mainly used in the manufacture of batteries used in technologies that avoid or reduce the use of fossil fuels. It is also used in health as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar disorders.
Entrepreneurs are checking out a 156-square-kilometer area between Cacula and Quilengues municipalities to assess the geological potential to further grant concessions for a specific area.
This is a 55 percent investment by Niobonga, a company that is investing 150 million dollars in niobium exploration in Quilengues, Kalumana said, adding that the company would be carrying out an evaluation of the site, which is currently being processed by the National Agency for Mineral Resources.
Kaluma explained that the mining concession process begins first with a request for a mining survey, in which the ministry gives the investor an area to assess the geological potential of the mine, followed by a request for a mining design, which does not allow for prospecting or exploration.
"It's just a process of requesting an expression of interest to assess the geological mining potential of a given area, the timing of which will depend on the analysis carried out," Kaluma said.
He explained that the company's application for a mining concession does not give it the right to carry out prospecting activities, or to take samples to assess the value of the mineral, but only to assess the site and gather data to make the geographical assessments.
Domingos Kalumana said the company has also expressed intention to evaluate copper, a crucial metal in industry and a good conductor of electricity, another potential of the municipality of Quilengues.
Quilengues aims for socio-economic growth with the implementation of the intention.
Speaking on the subject, the administrator of Quilengues, Adriano Alberto Pedro, said the project would generate more jobs for young people and provide economic development for the municipality.
"We invite other investors to come to Quilengues, because the municipality has mining potential (niobium, copper, iron, lithium, and diamonds, among other resources) and agri-livestock," Pedro said.
The municipality of Quilengues is 143 kilometers northwest of the city of Lubango, the seat of Huíla province, and has an estimated population of 102,052 people. EM/MS/TED/AMP
