Robin Bromby mentioned NTU in The Australian today....Boom in...

Robin Bromby mentioned NTU in The Australian today....


Boom in some rare earths may be ending as a shakeout looms
BY: ROBIN BROMBY From: The Australian July 30, 2012

ITS offices are on New York's Madison Avenue and it takes the Austrian economic school as its guide, so what's not to like about investment banking firm Hallgarten & Co?

Well, its overly sombre view on rare earths, for one thing.

Here's the headline from its latest report: "The rare-earth boom has ended."

Wait, there are more home truths, one being: "We see the rare-earth element world being winnowed of its chaff over the next year, with companies repurposing themselves in droves."

Globally, analyst Christopher Ecclestone thinks, there will be only five survivors among the 200-odd stocks.

That's probably a little too stern. After all, just locally we have Lynas Corp (LYC) clearing its last Malaysian hurdles to production while Alkane Resources (ALK) is tying up with Japan's largest rare-earth processor.

And there are explorers such as Hastings Rare Metals (HAS) and Kimberley Rare Earth (KRE), which have advanced resources. Even Arafura Resources (ARU) has rustled up another $9.9 million despite setbacks. And this doesn't even include the list of well-advanced North American companies.


Ecclestone, though, is focused on the heavy -- and most valuable -- end of the rare-earth spectrum, and he sees it as a two-horse race between explorers TUC Resources (TUC) and Northern Minerals (NTU) as to which can secure a partner with the necessary deep pockets.

"No one else will be able to compete for the attentions of the few end-users so disposed to take strategic stakes or make full acquisitions," he writes.

"Thus it's either Northern falls first or TUC, but whichever one goes the process will shine a massive spotlight on the survivor."

Ecclestone's report focuses on TUC, which appears to have discovered ionic-like clays in the Northern Territory similar to those that host southern China's rare-earth deposits.

TUC's deposit is rich in yttrium and dysprosium, two rare-earth elements that are expected to be in serious shortage over the next eight years (at least).


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/boom-in-some-rare-earths-may-be-ending-as-a-shakeout-looms/story-fnciihm9-1226438062632