Kalongo Lithium Mining SA

Location, Manono, Tanganyika Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Primary minerals, Lithium, Tin, Tantalum.

The Kalongo Lithium Mining SA is located in Tanganyika Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), within one of Central Africa’s most historically significant pegmatite mining districts. For much of the 20th century, the region was a prominent centre of tin production. Systematic mining activity began in 1919 under colonial-era operators, with cassiterite (tin oxide) recovered extensively from eluvial and weathered pegmatites. Infrastructure, processing facilities, and community support systems were established over decades of
operation, making Manono a central mining hub in the Belgian Congo.

Following Congolese independence and declining global tin prices, broad-scale mining at Manono diminished in the late 1970s and early 1980s. For decades thereafter, little formal exploration took place, and the district’s mineral potential remained largely underappreciated beyond artisanal mining for cassiterite and coltan.

A new chapter began in the mid-2010s when renewed interest in strategic battery metals led to large-scale exploration. In 2016, AVZ Minerals (later succeeded by partners and new ownership interests) acquired a controlling interest in the historic Manono mining licence, recognising its potential as a major lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite system. Modern prospecting, mapping, trenching, and drilling confirmed that the same pegmatite bodies that once hosted rich tin mineralisation also contain significant spodumene-hosted lithium mineralisation — a critical input for lithium-ion batteries.

Systematic drilling programs (including large intercepts of lithium-tin pegmatites) and detailed geological modelling rapidly advanced the project into the public markets, and independent resource estimates positioned Manono among the world’s most substantial undeveloped hard-rock lithium deposits.

In the early 2020s, activity expanded across the region, with multiple participants advancing exploration, tailings processing, and plant construction, reflecting the broader resurgence of Manono as a strategic mining district.

Today, the Kalongo Lithium Mining SA carries a legacy that bridges historic 20th-century mineral production and 21st-century strategic battery metals development. With
extensive lithium-rich pegmatites, multi-commodity potential, and a growing body of technical studies, the project is positioned to play a significant role in supplying critical materials for the global energy transition.

The 2025 Airborne MobileMT Campaign — A Defining Technical Milestone.

In 2025, Kalongo Lithium Mining SA entered a critical modern exploration phase through the execution of a high-resolution airborne Mobile Magnetotellurics (MobileMT) survey across its mineral tenure.

This campaign marked the most structured, compliance-driven geophysical initiative undertaken at Manono in the modern era.