As reported in The Australian this morning.
Its on the radar

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/chinese-rare-earths-major-snaps-up-stake-in-tanzaniafocused-peak-rare-earths/news-story/66776a5d0b1f25bbf52e5e924b1ca7a6

Chinese rare earths major snaps up stake in

Tanzania-focused Peak Rare Earths

Nick Evans6:12PM February 13, 2022

Shenghe Resources is best known for helping bankroll the return to production of the only operating rare earths mine in the United States, Mountain Pass. Picture: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg

A Chinese rare earths major is set to emerge as the biggest shareholder in ASX-listed Peak Rare Earths, snapping up a 20 per cent stake in the Tanzania-focused developer at a substantial premium.

Shanghai-listed Shenghe Resources Holding paid about $1 a share for the stake in Peak Resources late last week, buying the 19.9 per cent block from private equity company Appian, sources told The Australian.

Shenghe, worth about $US4.8bn ($6.73bn) on the Shanghai market is one of the most active of China’s privately-owned rare earths companies and already has a stake in ASX-listed Greenland Minerals and a development deal with RareX, both targeting offtake from new rare earth projects.

It is best known for helping bankroll the return to production of the only operating rare earths mine in the United States, Mountain Pass, and still holds a stake in MP Materials – recently the subject of a damaging short selling report alleging the company had inflated the value of its sales to Shenghe, which buys all of the rare earth concentrate produced at Mountain Pass.

Shenghe will pay a 25 per cent premium for its stake in Peak, which last traded at 79.5c on Friday night.

The price of rare earth metals has surged over the last year, with the Chinese price of praseodymium-neodymium alloy more than doubling, amid expectations the global renewable energy boom will lead to increased demand for the rare metals needed to make high-performance magnets needed in wind turbines and hi-tech electronics components.

ASX-listed Lynas Rare Earths said the average price for its basket of products lifted 21 per cent in the December quarter, to $54 a kilogram.

The $39.2m deal with Appian comes as Peak awaits the formal grant of a special mining licence covering its Ngualla rare earth project in the south of Tanzania, expected within the next few months.

The grant of the licence will allow Peak to pull the trigger on finalising development of the rare earth operation, which it argues is the biggest undeveloped rare earth deposit in the world.

Its acquisition of the Peak Resources stake will not require approval of the Foreign Investment Review board as it is not controlled by a state-owned company.

It comes amid a wave of government-ordered consolidations within the Chinese rare earth industry – in December Ganzhou Rare Earth Group took control of the rare earth operations of Chinalco and China Minmetals, further consolidation is seen as likely, through the merger of China’s other major rare earth producers.