And another article just now in the AFR on the race to get hold of rare earths. No doubt, DRE's rare earths will be in demand and will already be getting a lot of attention from industry majors.
Source: AFR Nov 1, 2022
Iluka boss says Australia must take charge of its rare earths destiny
By Peter Ker Resources reporter Nov 1, 2022
Iluka Resources managing director Tom O’Leary says Australia must take charge of its destiny by securing critical minerals supply chains to fix a situation where it can only decarbonise “with China’s permission”.
Speaking a day after rare earths aspirant VHM revealed plans to sell the majority of product from its proposed mine in Victoria to Chinese company Shenghe, Mr O’Leary said Iluka was willing to help small rare earths producers into development by processing their concentrates at the rare earths refinery Iluka is building in Western Australia.
The refinery will be the first domestic producer of separated rare earth oxides and will become one of the few outside China, which controls more than 80 per cent of the rare earths industry.The federal government’s Export Finance Australia has loaned up to $1.25 billion to Iluka to help fund construction of the refinery at a time when governments in developed economies are increasingly concerned about China’s dominance of the rare earths industry.
“What is plain is that China has extensive plans to electrify its own economy. These plans promise to consume a great deal of its, and by extension the world’s, existing production of rare earth oxides, and of course we want the world’s most populous nation and second largest economy to decarbonise,” he told a conference in Canberra on Tuesday.
“But right now, the rest of the world can only decarbonise with China’s permission. We should not be dependent on anyone else to achieve our goals.
“Australia needs to take charge of its economic destiny. We need to develop sensible, home-grown solutions that play to our competitive advantage. Strengthening sovereign capability and supply chains serves our national interest.
“It also recognises that we can service global demand for sustainably sourced, refined critical minerals that are needed to help nations around the world undertake their own energy transitions.”
Iluka has already struck a deal to fund rare earths junior Northern Minerals’ studies into a new mine at Browns Range in WA; the partnership will likely see Northern Minerals’ rare earths processed at Iluka’s refinery if the Browns Range mine is ultimately built.Rare earths are a crucial ingredient in the permanent magnets that are needed for wind turbines and electric motors but also defence applications such as fighter jets, night-vision goggles and munitions.
Mr O’Leary was scheduled to give the speech long before VHM made its announcement on Monday, under which 60 per cent of product mined near Swan Hill in Victoria could be sold to Shenghe.VHM boss Graham Howard said the memorandum of understanding with Shenghe was the start of a “long-term strategic relationship”.VHM plans to build a 20-year mine that produces 5 million tonnes a year.Last year VHM hired Canaccord to help it progress toward an initial public offering and the company was hoping to float on the ASX before the end of 2022, according to accounts filed by VHM with ASIC on October 4.
Meanwhile, investors continued to rush toward microcap explorer WA1 Resources after it announced last week the discovery of carbonatite – the mineral that hosts rare earth elements.Shares in WA1 were fetching 14¢ on October 21, but the stock has soared since then on drilling results that suggested it had found prospective geology near Kiwirrkurra in a Western Australian section of the Gibson Desert.
The stock traded as high as $1.99 on Tuesday; a 14-fold increase in the week since shares resumed trading on October 26.Kirwirrkurra is about 1000 kilometres east of Port Hedland by dirt road and about 690 kilometres west of Alice Springs.Peter Ker covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Melbourne.
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