Compete with Chinese enterprises! Australian miners are seeking $40 million to supply 10 percent of the world's rare earths
Australia's financial news on June 23, the latest news, Australia rare earth mineral exploration company ArafuraResources is seeking capital market financing of 40 million Australian dollars, to promote the development of the company's business; ArafuraResources is rumoured to own a Nolans mine that produces a didymium blend of rare earth (NDPR), a key ingredient for new energy vehicles, allowing it to compete with Lynas and Chinese rare earth miners.
The Nolan mine is expected to start production for the first time in 2024 at a cost of A $1 billion. ArafuraResources, meanwhile, has set a goal of eventually supplying 5-10% of the world's rare earths from the mine.
It should be noted that as early as December 2019, ArafuraResources signed a preliminary agreement with a U.S. company to process part of its rare earth concentrate, which is processed in the United States. From this point of view, if the Nolan rare earth mine is formally put into production, the global market share of ArafuraResources may also be greatly enhanced in the future.
In addition to ArafuraResources, Linus Mining received direct funding from the U.S. authorities in July last year, which allowed the Australian giant to design a heavy rare earth separation processing plant in Texas. In April, Linus reached a deal with the U.S. to build a new light-rare earth separation plant in Texas for $30 million each, a project that is widely believed to make Linus the only non-Chinese company in the market with mass production capacity to separate rare earth oxides.
Production costs are 30% higher than Chinese enterprises! Australia rare earth how to "pass"?
Australia's rare earth giant to expand cooperation with the United States, this is also inseparable from the efforts of the Australian government. In 2019, Australia sold 15 rare earth and key mining projects in a row to tap its own rare earth production capacity and expand cooperation with the United States. Australia is heavily focused on rare earths, trying to grab a share of the global market for rare earths, so how far does it compare with China, which produces "more than 80% of the world's rare earths"?
According to earlier data from the US Geological Survey, Australia has just 2.8 per cent of the world's rare earth reserves; In terms of the share of global rare earth production in 2020, Australia's share in the world is only 7%, while China's is 58%. In other words, in terms of reserves and exports alone, Australia will have to do more if it wants to increase its global market share.
In addition, the British media previously mentioned that rare earth processing technology is more important than raw materials themselves in the global rare earth supply chain, and China is the only country that can supply all 17 rare earth metals, leading the world in processing capacity. Canadian rare-earth processing company NeoperMaterials ULC says the technology and expertise needed from rare earth mining to getting into the electric motor is almost exclusively in Chinese hands.
Because of its relatively weak technology, Linus still costs 30 per cent more to produce rare earths than China. Overall, Australia has a long way to go to become a global supplier of rare earths, whether in terms of reserves, production or processing techniques.
