HOUSTON, January 16th (Argus) - American mining developer Critical Metals will establish a joint venture in Saudi Arabia to build a rare earth processing facility.
Critical Metals announced on January 15th that the company has signed a non-binding investment intention agreement with Tariq Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Brothers (TQB), to establish an equity-equivalent joint venture and create a comprehensive mining processing facility valued at up to $1.5 billion.
TQB is a Saudi Arabian industrial and investment group with extensive experience in advanced manufacturing, energy, infrastructure and strategic materials.
The agreement includes a market-based, long-term purchase commitment of 25% of the production during the Tanbreez project in Greenland.
This partnership will transport all finished materials to the United States for use in the defense sector.
Critical Metals stated that the acquisition with TQB means that 100% of the rare earth concentrate production from Tanbreez is allocated according to long-term agreements.
The company announced a purchase agreement of up to 10,000 metric tons of rare earth concentrate per year with Ucore Rare Earths and a purchase agreement of 15% of Tanbreez's annual production with Realloy.
The company plans to produce 75,000 metric tons of rare earth concentrate annually.
