By: Mining.com.au

Globe Metals & Mining (ASX:GBE) is continuing offtake conversions, strategic financing arrangements, and is progressing with the Malawi Government on granting Export Development Zone status for refining at its Kanyika Project.

Looking ahead in H2 2025 into 2026, CEO Charles Altshuler tells Mining.com.au Globe Metals & Mining also anticipates construction readiness initiatives, early works planning, and ESG reporting updates as part of its broader engagement with stakeholders.

In July 2025, the company identified a different beneficial strategic direction and decided to implement an ‘early contractor involvement’ (ECI) approach at Kanyika. ECI promotes early collaboration with strategic partners. 

Consequently, Globe Metals is delaying the release of the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) to ensure that the final design and budget include improvements identified from the ECI and are aligned with current market conditions. 

Altshuler says the ECI approach embodies industry’s best practice for developing vertically integrated projects and positions the company well for the upcoming phase of financing.

“The decision to implement an early contractor involvement approach was based on strategic alignment. By engaging key contractors and strategic partners earlier, we ensure the Bankable Feasibility Study reflects real-world execution costs, constructability, and commercial partnerships,” the CEO tells this news service.

“While this approach delays the BFS release, it significantly enhances the project’s bankability. Progress has been positive, with contractors and offtake partners actively involved in optimising the scope and schedule.”

The next milestone in this process involves securing binding offtake agreements and finalising the ECI partner inputs into the BFS. 

“We expect these to align with a potential final investment decision (FID) in 2026,” Altshuler adds.

In the near term, Globe Metals anticipates providing market updates on offtake conversions, financing progress, and engineering optimisation outcomes.

Knowledge and niobium

The Kanyika Niobium Project is located in central Malawi, some 55km northeast of the regional centre of Kasangu. The project mining licence grants the company security of tenure and the right to mine niobium, tantalum, and deleterious uranium. 

Drilling programs totalling 33.8km of percussion and core drilling have defined the extent of mineralisation. Structured and progressive engineering studies have resulted in the current (JORC 2012) mineral resource estimate and have given rise to significant improvements and simplifications in the process flowsheet.

In July, the company appointed Joseph Mkandawire as a non-executive director of its subsidiary Globe Metals & Mining Africa, based in Lilongwe, Malawi, as reported by this news service. 

Mkandawire retired in June 2025 after spending 35 years with the Government of Malawi’s public service where he served as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Mining, after originally establishing the department.

Under Mkandawire’s tenure, the Ministry was structured and implemented key reforms to align Malawi’s mining sector with national development goals as outlined in Malawi Vision 2063. 

Niobium is considered a strategic metal by a number of governments such as the US, UK, and Russia due to its widespread use in defence and aerospace. It is a ductile refractory metal highly resistant to heat and wear. Like tantalum, niobium is resistant to corrosion, owing to the formation of a surface oxide layer.

According to Geoscience Australia, about 90% of niobium use is attributed to the steel industry – predominantly as a micro-alloy with iron. The addition of minute, relatively cheap, amounts of niobium significantly increases strength and decreases weight of steel products. 

Uses for superalloys include blades in jet engines within the aeronautic industry and gas turbines in the energy industry. This has been the catalyst for the development and growth in its use of steels over the past few decades and is poised to remain the driver in the years to come.