Mining & Minerals

Mabounié niobium project in Gabon is priced at $2bn for a 2027 start

14th November, 2026

Gabon’s presidency has put the cost of reviving the Mabounié niobium and rare earths deposit at about $2bn, after UAE-backed New Energy Metals and its subsidiary Dusk Gabon presented a technical study to President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema in China, with construction targeted for 2027 and processing planned inside the country.

New Energy Metals, a UAE-backed company, signed a relaunch agreement for the Mabounié niobium and rare earths project in 2024 through its subsidiary Dusk Gabon, two years after Eramet and its Gabonese subsidiary Comilog handed their interests in the deposit back to the state without having reached commercial production.

Eramet had worked on the deposit, about 200km southeast of Libreville, from 2005, carrying out geological and metallurgical studies and building a demonstration plant before the handover in November 2022.

Early this month, during President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema’s state visit to China, New Energy Metals and Dusk Gabon presented him with a technical study of the project, and China ENFI Engineering Corporation is also attached to the proposal, Bloomberg reported on 8 November, although its role has not been set out.

The investment, which Gabon’s presidency puts at about $2bn, covers the mine and processing facilities inside Gabon, and the presidency says the project would create more than 2,500 direct jobs. Neither the financing nor a final investment decision has been announced, and construction is targeted for 2027, with preparatory earthworks reportedly assigned to a local company.

Images: Kostiantyn Postumitenko

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