Nill, May 21st (Argus) - Australian minerals developer Arafura informed Argus today that the company has made a final investment decision for the Nolans rare earth project with an annual production capacity of 4,870 tons. The project will commence construction in September and start production in the first half of 2029.
Nolans will produce 4,440 tons per year of praseodymium-nickel oxide, a light rare earth, which is used in rare earth permanent magnets and is crucial for the automotive, wind energy and high-tech sectors. The project will also produce 470 tons per year of mixed medium-heavy rare earth oxides and 144,000 tons per year of fertilizer-grade phosphoric acid.
The company stated today that after receiving a non-binding support letter from Australia's Export Finance Agency (EFA), the board reached the final investment decision. This investment supports Australia's key mineral strategic reserve of 500 tons of praseodymium-nickel oxide per year, which exceeds 80% of Nolans' target purchase threshold.
Previously, the Australian National Reconstruction Fund invested 200 million Australian dollars (equivalent to 144 million US dollars) on May 12th and signed a purchase agreement for 500 tons per year of praseodymium-nickel oxide with the commodity trader Traxys North America on May 13th.
Arafura also signed purchase agreements with Hyundai Motor of South Korea, Siemens of Germany, and Traxys Europe.
Arafura has currently signed an order contract for 3,570 tons per year of praseodymium-nickel oxide, accounting for 80.4% of its production capacity. The remaining 870 tons per year has not yet been contracted and will be sold in the spot market.
The mine life of Nolans is 38 years, and the company expects it to meet 4% of the global demand for praseodymium-nickel.
