NeoTerra Group is looking beyond a planned 50,000-tonne-a-year fluorspar mine in Mozambique, seeking $5 million in U.S. funding to test whether Monte Muambe can support a much larger mining and processing operation.

The London-listed critical minerals company wants to increase the project’s contained calcium fluoride resource from 716,000 tonnes to 4 million tonnes, potentially creating enough scale to expand mine output, extend its operating life and support downstream production in Mozambique.

The move puts Monte Muambe at the center of NeoTerra’s wider strategy to build critical-mineral supply chains with the U.S.-aligned partners while retaining more processing value within Mozambique.

From mine to processing opportunity

The proposed funding would finance additional drilling at Monte Muambe, alongside a regional assessment of fluorspar resources and potential feedstock sources across Mozambique.

NeoTerra also plans to examine whether the available resource base could support a hydrofluoric acid plant in the country.

That would represent a significant expansion of the project’s potential beyond the production of fluorspar itself.

Hydrofluoric acid is an important industrial chemical, making the availability of sufficient local feedstock a key question in determining whether downstream processing is commercially viable.

CEO Cédric Simonet said the company intends to assess the larger opportunity in a modular manner, building from the existing development plan rather than abandoning the proposed initial operation.

U.S. backs African critical minerals

NeoTerra’s application is being submitted through the US-Africa Strategic Investment Program, administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs.

The program has approximately $500 million available for investments intended to strengthen African critical-mineral supply chains. Individual awards range from $5 million to $50 million.

For NeoTerra, the application also represents an effort to secure project funding without diluting shareholders through an equity raise.

The company already has a U.S. government funding relationship linked to Monte Muambe, having received a $1.88 million grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to advance the project’s rare earths component through prefeasibility.

Monte Muambe expands beyond fluorspar

Fluorspar is only one part of the Monte Muambe development strategy. NeoTerra is separately pursuing partnerships and funding opportunities for the project’s gallium component, focusing on U.S.-aligned parties seeking secure and responsible sources of critical raw materials.

The company is therefore assessing Monte Muambe as a broader critical-minerals development rather than solely a conventional fluorspar mine.

The immediate objective remains the planned 50,000 t/y fluorspar operation, but the proposed U.S. funding would allow NeoTerra to determine whether Mozambique has enough additional resource and feedstock to justify a significantly larger development and local downstream processing.