Wesfarmers rare earth ambitions

Wesfarmers stakes Goldfields ground via private subsidiary in hopes of a major rare earths find

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Extract from WA news article today under heading above

Australia’s biggest conglomerate is quietly on the hunt for rare earth elements in WA’s outback to grow its mining footprint beyond only lithium.

Five years on from a failed bid to snare the world’s largest non-Chinese rare earths producer, Wesfarmers is renewing its push to get a foothold in this geopolitically important corner of the minerals market.

In October last year Wesfarmers inked a deal with gold producer Ora Banda Mining to buy a 65 per cent stake in the lithium-prospective Davyhurst land — situated approximately 120km north-west of Kalgoorlie — for $26 million.Wesfarmers can boost its holding to a maximum of 80 per cent by spending $15m on exploration before November 2026.

“This will primarily be targeting lithium but also potentially other non-precious metals,” the spokeswoman said.“As we have previously said, (Wesfarmers) is also considering other critical minerals exploration opportunities in WA that contribute to the world’s transition to electrification.”

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we may get a very nice surprise one day from all this work Wesfarmers is funding over OBM territory