MNB update on Angolan phosphate project

Our Angolan phosphate Investment Minbos Resources (ASX: MNB) just provided an update for its Cabinda Project.

MNB had already started construction on the project, here are some of the latest pictures from site:

(Source)

Today, MNB announced a slight change to the development plan for the project.

MNB was going after three financing deals to fully fund the development of the project:

• (Deal #1) ✅ US$10M has now been received - MNB has received the full US$10M in funding from the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund.
• (Deal #2) 🔄 US$12M loan from Angolan bank in the final stages of being completed
• (Deal #3) 🔄 US$16M loan from the International Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa

MNB confirmed today, that it had received term sheets for financing from both the IDC and Banco BAI and that MNB would still “pursue the full development” of its plant.

(Source)

While those two deals progress MNB has now decided to fast track first production by removing the crushing, drying and dust extraction circuits from its processing flowsheet.

MNB says those changes would remove ~US$20M of upfront CAPEX and operating costs of ~US$17 per tonne.

(basically allowing MNB to get to first production without waiting on those two financing deals)

The change to the development plan comes after some of MNB’s export and domestic customers “indicated they will accept unprocessed phosphate rock” to get the project into production as soon as possible.

It’s a fairly material change in plan by MNB, so the previous feasibility studies probably dont apply to the project anymore.

It’s hard to workout how the economics of the developed project look now.

BUT we think that from a development perspective MNB getting into production could make it easier to eventually get the rest of the financing in order and the development completed as originally planned.

MNB confirmed in today’s announcement that discussions with the Angolan Ministry of Finance were already underway for a “very large working capital facility” to fund the local granulation facility that would be utilised in this new development plan.

MNB confirmed that it would be in a position to give an update on timing and number of shipments from the new development plan in mid-Q1 2026.

What’s next for MNB?

🔄 Update on Banco BAI and IDC loans

MNB has confirmed that it has term sheets on these, so we await to see them get enacted which will cover the full cost of the project.

🔄 Progress on new strategy to fast track production

MNB has changed strategy and is now looking at a rapid start up opportunity as customers are willing to take product that has not been processed fully.

This will allow for a cheaper startup operation and early cashflow, plus testing out certain aspects of the operation such as logistics and initial processing.

We await for early next year (Q1) where MNB expects to provide an update on first shipment and quantities. (Source)

🔄 Progress on Green Ammonia project

We have written about MNB’s green ammonia project in the past.

Things have gone quiet on that front while MNB focused on getting its phosphate project built.

But we did see an agreement signed with TalusAg toward the end of October.

MNB said they will work together to jointly develop the Capanda Green Ammonia Project (CGAP) and collaborate on a joint bid into a major European green ammonia procurement process.

MNB did confirm that a preliminary submission for the EU opportunity had been lodged…

We still like the green ammonia project (because of the access to cheap hydropower in Angola).

See our deep dive on the green ammonia project here: Does MNB have the “most commercially attractive zero-carbon green ammonia project globally”?