Lion Rock Minerals confirms high-grade rare earth source across Cameroon granite

Monazite concentrates from Minta Est have returned up to 22.5% NdPr and 2.7% DyTb, spread across a 250 sq km target area

RMRoy Mulenga

18 August 20262 min read

ASX-listed Lion Rock Minerals has confirmed that monazite concentrates from its Minta Est project in central Cameroon carry standout rare earth chemistry, with test work returning monazite assemblages of up to about 74% and rare earth oxide content including neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) as high as 22.5% and dysprosium-terbium (DyTb) up to 2.7%. The mineralisation is hosted in a late-tectonic granite body identified through thorium radiometric surveys, covering roughly 250 square kilometres.

A large-scale infill campaign

Lion Rock began an infill auger drilling programme of more than 1,000 holes across the target area in late 2025, aimed at defining the extent of the monazite-enriched granite, and assay results from that campaign have been progressively released through 2026. NdPr and dysprosium-terbium are the rare earth elements most sought after for permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors and wind turbines, making high-grade results across such a wide area particularly significant for a company at Lion Rock's early stage.

Why it matters

Cameroon has almost no history of industrial rare earth mining, and a confirmed high-grade discovery of this scale would place the country alongside Malawi, Tanzania and Namibia among the more promising African rare earth jurisdictions attracting exploration capital as Western governments push to diversify magnet-metal supply away from China. The company has strengthened its technical team with the appointment of former Sierra Rutile leadership to help guide the project's monazite and associated rutile development.

What happens next

With infill drilling continuing across the 250 sq km target, Lion Rock's next step is compiling enough drilling density to support an initial mineral resource estimate. Until that resource is published, the true scale of the discovery, as opposed to the grade quality already confirmed in concentrate test work, remains unquantified.