Barely authorized by Morocco, the Tan-Tan titanium project is already reaching a new stage

Morocco gave the green light on August 12 to the exploitation of a first 16 km² area of the project developed on the Atlantic coast by NSM Capital, a company linked to Canadian firm Steadright Critical Minerals. Six days later, the company has already announced a new stage.

In a statement published on August 18 in Canada by Newsfile, Steadright said that NSM Capital and Moroccan company Homme Construction had created a dedicated entity called Shan Tang Mining. The TitanBeach permits were transferred to it, and NSM Capital holds a 32% stake without having to finance its share of future exploration or production costs.

Shan Tang Mining has also signed a framework agreement with a multinational public group specializing in engineering and construction. Its identity has not been disclosed, but Steadright says it has the technologies and equipment required to develop the project.

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The first planned mission concerns the preparation of a pilot plant at TitanBeach. It is intended to test the processing of mineralized sands and determine under what conditions their exploitation could subsequently be developed on a larger scale.

A pilot phase before possible industrial exploitation

This is therefore not yet the launch of commercial production. The results of this pilot phase are intended to help define the long-term mining strategy and assess the project’s technical viability.

TitanBeach covers approximately 192 km² in total. The mining concession granted by the Moroccan authorities currently concerns a first 16 km² area. The targeted coastal sands contain, among other things, titanium and iron.

Another regulatory step remains to be completed. According to Steadright, the environmental permit has already passed the public consultation phase but is still awaiting its final signature.

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The project has thus achieved several advances in just a few days: a mining concession, the creation of a dedicated company, the arrival of an industrial partner and the preparation of a pilot plant. The next challenge is to demonstrate that the titanium present in the sands of Tan-Tan can be recovered and processed under conditions that would enable large-scale exploitation.