There is a nice mention of rare earths and a good positive note...

There is a nice mention of rare earths and a good positive note on IXR this week in the RRS Weekly Wrap by Barry Fitzgerald. I think that it is a real positive outcome that Rare Earths are regularly being commented on as critical to the decarbonisation of the environment. It took at least 2 years or more of similar discussion on the importance of Lithium before investors really warmed up to the likes of Pilbarra Minerals (PLS) et al. Rare Earths may well be another 12 months away from the same level of recognition but I sense it is happening now.

"Rare Earths:
It was mentioned here last week that rare earths had long been considered critical to hi-tech modern-day life and that because of the mega trend of decarbonisation, they have become even more critical.

Add to that the geopolitical imperative for the Western world to break China’s grip on rare earth supplies, and the outlook for the ASX-listed rare earth stocks is as rosy as could be expected among the current equity market doom and gloom.

Three stocks were mentioned last week: RareX (REE), PVW Resources (PVW) and Australian Rare Earths (AR3). They all caught a bit of tailwind from last week’s thinking. RareX was 5.3c a week ago and is now 6c. PVW climbed from 24c to 28c and AR3 has gone from 37.5c to 43c.

The 13%-16% gains were welcome stuff given all three stocks have been beaten up in the current equity market shakedown. AR3’s gain was particularly noteworthy as it was driven by a big resource upgrade at its Koppamurra ionic clay-hosted rare earths discovery in south-east South Australia.
It was suggested here that the resource update could well trigger a re-rate, which it has to a certain extent. Sprott’s equity desk reckons there could be more to come and has a $1.30 a share price target on the stock.
It noted that the upgrade in the resource date to 81 million tonnes at 785ppm total rare earth oxide more than doubled the previous estimate, and was a beat on the 25-30 million tonne increase it was expecting.
It doesn’t sound like much when it is said quickly but Sprott gave it some context, saying the upgraded resource estimate put Koppamurra on the development map. Sprott reckons there is a lack of viable projects to supply the rare earth molecules the world needs.

“AR3 and Ionic Rare Earths (IXR, trading at 4.1c and owner of the big Makuutu clay-hosted project in Uganda) are our top picks globally as projects that have the heavy rare earths, size potential, and ability to get into production quickly enough to fill this gap,” Sprott said."


Cheers W2