Rare earth prices sustained at low levels during the quarter with a slight improvement in neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) prices towards the end, the company said.

The largest producer of rare earths outside China reported sales revenue of A$120.5 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, down from A$128.1 million in the same period last year.

The average selling price for the rare earth miner’s product range came in at A$42.5 per kilogram (kg) compared with a restated number of A$46.9 per kg a year ago.

Total rare-earth oxide output for the first quarter was at 2,722 REO tons, compared to 3,609 REO tons reported last year.

Rare earth metals are essential for industries like electric vehicles and defense due to their powerful magnetic properties, which contribute to increased energy efficiency.

(By Sneha Kumar and Roshan Thomas; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Critical Metals acquired a controlling stake in Tanbreez in June, hailing it as a potential “game-changing” mine project for North America’s rare earths supply chain. By total resource count, it is ranked the largest rare earth deposit in the world at 28.2 million tonnes of total rare earth oxides (TREO) contained within 4.7 billion tonnes of material.

Drilling kicked off last month, consisting of 14 holes with a total cumulative length of up to 2,200 metres. The objective of the drill program was to upgrade the Tanbreez resource to US SEC standards and enhance the potential mine throughput. Critical Metals’ team is currently actively cutting and preparing the drill core for testing.

In Tuesday’s update, the company said that its team examined three areas containing high-grade rare earth material during the past field season. Two of the areas were not initially envisioned for mining, namely Horizon Zero, where limited testing returned about 5% zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), and EALS, located above the unit designated for mining. The third area had high-grade, coarse-grained pegmatites next to the access road of the Tanbreez project’s proposed tailings site.

With the new information, Critical Metals said it will now mine the run-of-the-mill ore at 1.7-1.9% ZrO2, producing a concentrate at 10% ZrO2, 2.5% REO (30% heavy REO), 1.0% Nb2O5, and 0.15% Ta2O5 and HfO2 between late spring to mid-autumn, or approximately eight months of the year. During the winter months, it will enhance the cost-effectiveness of its development strategy by reducing labor and electricity usage while maintaining the same level of rare earth concentrate production.

For this strategy, the company said it has begun discussions with Nukissiorfiit, the Greenland government’s electric company, to secure a reliable and sustainable power source to support the production of up to 3 tonnes of rare earth materials annually.

Shares in Critical Metals gained 3.5% on the NASDAQ by midday trading to $6.45 apiece, with a market capitalization of $526.45 million. The company is a unit of European Lithium (ASX: EUR).

Rare earths have strong magnetic qualities which make them key to applications from smart phones to laser guided missiles. Australia is classified as a domestic supplier to the United States for defence purposes.

“The magnet supply chain is actually in a really good position, regardless of which (US) government comes in,” CEO Rowena Smith told Reuters.

Smith said that Australian firms can potentially access US Department of Defence funding under the newly set up Office of Strategic Capital.

“When I met with them, they were… very confident that they had bipartisan support,” she told Reuters on the sidelines of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) conference in Melbourne.

“They’re expecting to come out of this calendar year with momentum. They asked me to come back February and talk to them again. So yeah, we’re feeling very optimistic of regardless of what the outcome is,” she said.

Context

ASM has been building funds to finance the development of its Dubbo rare earths project in Australia’s New South Wales state. It estimated in late 2021 that the project would cost A$1.678 billion ($1.10 billion).

ASM has already received a letter of interest for a debt funding package of up to $400 million from Canada’s official export credit agency and a promises for $600 million from the US Export-Import bank.

The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital has recently been set up to distribute funds that are meant to seed investment in the defense industrial base’s supply chain.

What’s next

ASM is targeting a final investment decision for the first half of 2026 although a study is underway to potentially fast track production.

($1 = 1.5223 Australian dollars)

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Michael Perry)

The move sets a precedent for future private-sector missions beyond Earth’s orbit as it gives AstroForge both approval for their upcoming mission, Odin, and the green light to establish communication networks with their ground partners

The Odin mission, to be launched in January 2025, is part of the firm’s ambitious plan to harvest precious metals from asteroids, offering an alternative to Earth’s dwindling critical resources.

This is not the first launch for the company. In April 2023, AstroForge launched a small cubesat called Brokkr-1 on a SpaceX Transporter flight, but was unable to transmit the necessary commands to demonstrate its space-based minerals and metals refining technology. 

The company also ran into issues when preparing a second mission, originally called Brokkr-2 and later renamed Odin, which is now ready to be launched.

A third attempt is planned for late 2025, when the company will launch Vestri. The craft  is about twice the size of Odin and is designed to return to the targeted metallic asteroid and dock with it by using magnets, as it is expected the asteroid will be rich in iron.

If successful, AstroForge plans to send a fourth mission, which will focus on extracting and refining asteroids’ metals before returning to Earth.

The Huntington Beach, California-based company is the most advanced private asteroid miner to date. Two previous companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries emerged about a decade ago, but neither company arrived on any asteroids and were eventually acquired and rerouted to other endeavours.

The move, Blue Evolution said, creates a combined entity that will leverage enhanced R&D capabilities to drive innovation and commercialize new seaweed-based products across multiple sectors – agriculture, biomaterials – and critical minerals.

In December of last year, the US Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) first announced its selection of scientific teams to explore the feasibility of extracting critical minerals from ocean macroalgae.

In July this year, Blue Evolution announced a groundbreaking advancement in sustainable biomining after it partnered with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Virginia Tech to develop a revolutionary method for sustainably extracting critical minerals and rare earth elements from seaweed.

The company operates seaweed farms in California and Alaska, and this month finalized a joint venture with the Māori Iwi Tribe to scale regenerative seaweed farming in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

From biofuels to rare earths

Blue Evolution CEO Beau Perry has been working with ARPA-E since 2017, first on large-scale systems for cultivation of seaweed for biofuels in Kodiak, Alaska, testing new hardware to grow seaweed in abundance, sustainably and economically.

Alaska is unparalleled in the US in terms of seaweed farming because of its size, environmental conditions and infrastructure. Perry noted both the state and the public are much more receptive to seaweed farming than to mining projects.

“It’s a relatively new industry. In post-war Japan, the coastal seaweed the Japanese had harvested for a long time was kind of destroyed…A British woman had closed the life cycle on nori in the early 50s. Seaweed farming was fairly new as a major agricultural sector, but now we grow, globally, 30 million tons of it,” Perry told MINING.com in an interview.

More than half of it is grown in China, but also Japan, Korea, Philippines and Indonesia.

The United States only entered the market ten years ago, and Perry said the US has grown a couple thousand tons so far.

Of over 10,000 species of seaweed worldwide, 300 species have been commercialized. Blue Evolution is working with six different species – four that they are growing in Alaska. Perry said seaweed has the potential to enter multiple markets because of its sustainability.

“It soaks up a lot more carbon than any terrestrial biomass per area, and it really only needs sunlight and seawater,” he said.

“We were looking [at] how to render biofuels from seaweed. PNNL was doing very in-depth content analyses of different samples of different species from different locations in our farmer network. We worked with different farmers that we’ve helped set up in Alaska, including the first ever commercial farm in Kodiak.”

The team started to find some unusual levels of minerals designated as in the strategic interest of US economic development and national security, but Perry said what got the Department of Energy’s attention was the rare earths.

The discovery is a positive development for a nascent North American rare earths market and taps into the broader issue of the glaring lack of domestic production. China has a near monopoly on mining and refining the group of 17 metals that are crucial to the development of smart electronic devices and wind turbines, and which are notoriously difficult to extract and expensive to process.

“This was sort of a beautiful accident, and it’s all a function of what’s in the water where the seaweed is growing,” Perry said.

“They’re a prolific sponge – they soak up nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon and a lot of minerals, and so in this first pass at the content analysis, we got a certain set of signals around REEs and precious metals, like rhodium, palladium and scandium.”

Each species of seaweed is metabolically prone to take up a certain set of minerals, and Perry noted some are really fascinating.

“We’ve seen sort of peaks and flat lines from different locations around the globe, and now we’re starting to fill in the puzzle of which seaweed could grow where to get what minerals,” he said.

“It’s clear that each one is taking up some combination of precious minerals, REEs and these other strategic minerals.”

The team has preliminary data and is working to understand which species, where, how they are grown, and determining scalable extraction methods.

“There’s kind of this matrix of ‘what am I growing the seaweed for?’ I think critical minerals past a certain scale will always be part of that based on what we’re seeing,” Perry said. “ In certain locations, that might be the primary one if we find a species that really soaks this stuff up. We’re talking parts per million, and even parts per billion as a baseline. It’s perfectly standard in mining.”

Doubling seaweed value

Perry said the company is forging ahead with a “very critical mineral centric expedition” to find if there are places to focus on critical minerals and develop farms that are primarily oriented towards producing them.

“It’s possible that the critical minerals are disruptive to seaweed farming economics generally. They could double the value of the biomass,” he said.

“If I were to grow at a level where … at a significant scale relative to that market, the amount of critical minerals that will be running through our supply chain will be significant. In some cases, maybe fundamentally changing the supply picture for specific critical minerals.”

“There are some tricks that we’re going to explore to really enhance the amount of rare earths per ton of biomass. It’s taking these things up all the time.

There are ways to coax maybe orders of magnitude more than we’re finding by accident, not really trying. We can do things at the genetic level, selecting for strains that are going to bioaccumulate more of a given target critical mineral.”

The goal, Perry said, is to really understand what’s possible from an extraction standpoint.

“There’s a certain amount of critical minerals that are economically recoverable from a site, but around it are a million years of sediment that the seaweed will be sort of steeped in, like a sponge. And that yield should actually increase over time, given that the baseline of those minerals should stay the same pretty much over a long period of time. And we’re going to get better at getting the seaweed to accumulate them and getting them out.”

When you think about a seaweed farm as a mine, it’s unlikely to run out anytime soon,” Perry said. “It will be replenished constantly by the ocean. So that, I think, from a mining perspective is pretty radical – I don’t need to spend $100 million to maybe break ground on a mine in 20 years.”

Rare earth mining in Myanmar is concentrated in Kachin state around the towns of Panwa and Chipwe, adjacent to southwestern China’s Yunnan province. The region also hosts a number of gem mining sites and is a key trade route into Myitkyina (Kachin state’s capital) and north into China.

A KIA spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday the group wrested control of the area from the militia group NDA-K over the weekend but did not elaborate on its plans on mining in the region. The NDA-K is allied with the ruling junta and has been working with Chinese companies involved in mining.

In a note on Tuesday, Adamas Intelligence, a Toronto-based rare earth and battery metals research consultancy, said rebel control of these mining sites could potentially disrupt rare earth concentrate shipments into China, which have declined for four months straight owing to the monsoon season and other challenges. 

In June, a landslide at a rare earth mining site in Ngilot village in Panwa region claimed 10 lives and left at least 30 people missing.

Adamas says with Myanmar responsible for 57% of global dysprosium and terbium mine supply last year, a prolonged disruption would strain availability of feedstock supplies for magnet makers during what is typically a seasonally strong quarter. 

More than 90% of electric vehicles feature at least one permanent magnet motor and rising production from Myanmar and low prices have made it easy for automakers “to turn a blind eye to the environmental destruction and social upheaval that rare earth mining fuels in the country,” according to Adamas.

“Should the recent border seizure and expected capture of rare earth mines this week result in a disruption of rare earth concentrate flows to China from Myanmar, importers of Chinese rare earths and magnets may soon have to pay, literally and figuratively, for failing to support and secure alternative sources of supply in time.”

• Stockpiling. The Trump Administration supported and the Harris campaign supports increased mineral stockpiling. According to the Department of Defense, the National Defense Stockpile (NDS), as of March 2023, only had inventories to cover 6 percent of the US military’s and essential civilian demand’s estimated material shortfalls in a hypothetical one-year conflict with China, followed by a three-year recovery. The president could tap the NDS Transaction Fund for mineral stockpiling, as well as the Defense Production Act (DPA) fund. The Eisenhower Administration used DPA funds for mineral stockpiling during the Cold War, and the president still has this authority (50 USC §4533). Importantly, the next administration’s Department of Defense should prioritize stockpiling minerals extracted and processed in the United States.

• Subsidies. The Trump Administration supported and the Harris campaign supports subsidies for critical mineral projects. The Trump Administration deemed critical mineral processing projects eligible for direct loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, and the Biden-Harris Administration has loaned to such projects. The next administration’s Department of Energy could also deem mining projects eligible under the ATVM program by issuing a draft rule that adds “mining” to 10 CFR 611.2 “Eligible Project” (3). To specifically lower costs for US mineral processing facilities, the next administration’s Internal Revenue Service could propose new regulations extending the production costs covered by the Section 45X 10-percent production tax credit to feedstock acquisition, as has been urged by several organizations and mining companies.

• Procurement. Both the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations support increased domestic content requirements for government procurement. Under the authority of Executive Order 14005, the next administration’s Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council could issue a draft rule that adds a new part to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, requiring that acquisitions of specified clean energy technologies contain a certain threshold percentage of minerals extracted in the United States. For example, the draft rule could ultimately require that the General Services Administration—the federal government’s main source for procuring non-tactical vehicles—only acquire electric vehicles with batteries containing a high percentage of chemicals derived from US-extracted minerals. The next administration’s US Postal Service could adopt a similar content requirement in its Supplying Principles and Practices for electric vehicle acquisitions.

• Tariffs. Trump has pledged significant tariff increases, while the Biden-Harris Administration increased tariffs on several minerals imported from China. Domestic mineral projects like South32’s Hermosa manganese-zinc project support such trade protections to reduce US reliance on foreign minerals. The next president could (likely) impose tariffs on any mineral imports immediately under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The only prerequisite is a national emergency declaration, like the now-expired critical minerals executive order. If concerned about the legality of levying tariffs under IEEPA, the president could also direct the secretary of commerce to open a Section 232 investigation into mineral imports, although the tariff imposition would likely take several months to occur.

• Permitting. Both Trump and Harris support expedited permitting for building major projects. Previously, most US mining projects required Clean Water Act section 404 permits—which trigger the National Environmental Policy Act—but the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (2023) circumscribed the areas requiring these permits, possibly lowering the permitting requirements for many mine projects. Determining whether a project requires a section 404 permit, however, can take up to one year based on the district. To expedite this process, the next administration’s US Army Corps of Engineers could issue a regulatory guidance letter directing district engineers to prioritize the review of approved jurisdictional determinations for sites of potential mining projects.

In short, the next president’s administration has significant unilateral authority to support US mining of critical minerals. First, it could increase mineral stockpiling by tapping both the NDS Transaction Fund and DPA fund for mineral acquisitions.

The next administration could also expand existing subsidies—like the ATVM direct loan program—to mining projects. For government acquisitions of clean energy technologies, it could set content requirements for US-extracted minerals.

The next administration could, additionally, impose tariffs on mineral imports of their choosing by issuing a national emergency declaration concerning mineral imports under IEEPA.

Lastly, it could expedite permitting by prioritizing jurisdictional determinations for sites of potential mining projects. On January 20, 2025, the next US president could—and should—take these actions to bolster US mining of critical minerals.

** Gregory Wischer is the founder of Dei Gratia Minerals, a critical minerals consulting firm.

The backing of the MSP, a coalition of 14 countries and the European Union committed to boosting investments in responsible critical mineral supply chains, highlights Serra Verde’s strategic importance in providing essential minerals for sustainable energy technologies, the company said.

“The announcement is a strong endorsement of the significant role that Serra Verde can play in establishing sustainable, secure, and diversified rare earth supply chains to enable the global energy transition,” chief executive officer Thras Moraitis said in a statement.

“Federal, state, and international coordination on critical minerals is essential to ensure these projects reach the necessary scale to compete and drive our industry forward.”

Serra Verde’s recognition, which also came with a $150 million investment from the Energy and Minerals Group, Vision Blue Resources and founding investor Denham Capital, makes it further stand out as one of only two producing rare earths mines in the Americas after MP Materials‘ (NYSE: MP) Mountain Pass project in California. 

As the only large-scale producer outside of Asia of neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium — four critical rare earth elements needed for efficient permanent magnets — Serra Verde is expected to play a key role in the diversification of global supply chains. The investment will be used for operational improvements as well as long-term growth initiatives.

“The United States, a member of the MSP, welcomes the new investment in Serra Verde’s rare earth elements project in Brazil,” government spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a separate statement.

“This milestone investment supports the sustainable development of critical mineral supply chains most relevant to clean energy technologies, such as for rare earth elements, which are core components of the permanent magnets needed for wind turbines, electric vehicle motors, air conditioners, and other vital applications,” Miller noted.

In production since early 2024, Pela Ema mine Phase I is expected to yield at least 5,000 tonnes per year of rare earth oxides over a 25-year mine life, with off-take agreements already in place for a large proportion of planned production. 

The company has detected significant potential to increase capacity through plant optimization and is mulling a Phase II expansion that could double production before the end of this decade.

Unlike rare earth elements present in hard rock, those in ionic clays can be extracted with low-cost mining techniques and processed using technologies that don’t require hazardous chemicals, crushing, milling or acid leaching. This means the environmental impacts of mining ionic clays are lower than at other rare earth operations.

Long haul

The MSP, chaired by South Korea, works with both governments and industry to develop sustainable, diversified energy mineral supply chains. By providing financial and diplomatic support, the group helps accelerate the growth of critical mineral projects worldwide. 

Brazil holds the world’s third-largest rare earth reserves and has big ambitions to build an industry as Western economies attempt to break China’s dominance of the supply chain.

Last year, the Asian powerhouse produced 240,000 tonnes of rare earths, over five times more than the next largest producer, the United States, data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows. The country also processed nearly 90% of the global supply into permanent magnets, which are critical components in products ranging from wind turbines and electric vehicles to missiles.

Nations such as Australia, Vietnam and Brazil are struggling to close the gap. Serra Verde’s project, for instance, took around 15 years to reach the production stage.

The rare earths company has agreed to purchase an 80% interest in these three projects by investing A$3 million ($2m) over three years, Havilah said. This investment includes a minimum of A$1 million in the first year for exploration and development activities.

The three assets, located in the uranium-rich Curnamona province, are situated near two operating in-situ leach (ISL) mines at Honeymoon, owned by Boss Energy (ASX: BOE), and Four Mile, owned by the private company Heathgate Resources.

“These agreements with HRE provide a way for Havilah to monetize a portion of its remaining uranium assets, for which it is currently receiving neither market recognition nor value,” said the company’s technical director, Chris Giles.

Havilah will retain 100% ownership of its exploration licenses and mineral rights, excluding rare earth elements and scandium at the Radium Hill extensions. Heavy Rare Earths will assume responsibility for further exploration expenditures and fieldwork.

Demand for uranium has surged after more than 20 nations committed to tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai late last year.

Canada, Australia, and the United States have led the sector’s revival this year, with companies announcing production increases and the restart of previously halted projects.

China currently dominates the world’s supply of rare earths, accounting for approximately 70% of the global mine production and as much as 90% of the refined output.

The announcement was made this week at an international mining conference held in Tianjin, China, where a delegate led by Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey’s minister of energy and natural resources, met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Guanghua to complete the MOU signing.

“Critical minerals, which are indispensable for high-tech products, have become important raw materials that shape the policies of countries. Investing in critical minerals and rare earth elements plays an important role in our energy transformation vision,” Bayraktar said during the conference.

“In this context, we aim to establish an industrial facility that will purify 570,000 tonnes of rare earth elements annually in order to bring the world’s second largest rare earth element reserve, which we discovered in Eskişehir, to our economy.”

The agreement follows an earlier MOU focused on cooperation in energy transformation signed during a visit by Bayraktar in May. The Turkish government had hoped that the rare earth mining agreement could encourage Chinese companies including BYD, the world’s biggest maker of electric cars, to consider producing batteries following a recent deal to make EVs in the country, Bloomberg sources said last month.

During this week’s visit, Bayraktar also met with the vice president of CNOS, one of China’s leading nuclear companies, to discuss possible opportunities for modular reactors, and the chairman of SPIC, one of Chinese largest energy companies, regarding potential renewable energy partnerships.

“In today’s world, where the global mining industry is going through a critical period, joint projects to be developed between China and Türkiye in the field of mining have great potential,” Bayraktar said in a follow-up statement on his official X account.

The separation flowsheet, developed in collaboration with the Saskatchewan Research Council, is based on solvent extraction of key elements such as neodymium (NdPr), dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb).

According to the company, its patented circular mineral harvesting technology, designed to extract heavy rare earths from ionic clays, boasts several environmentally friendly features. These include a low carbon footprint and over 95% water recirculation. The process avoids blasting, crushing, and milling, and generates no solid or liquid waste, eliminating the need for a tailings dam.

With this technology, Aclara aims to produce high-purity mixed rare earth concentrate (MREC) from its Penco module in Chile and the Carina project in Brazil.

“The initial results are highly encouraging and position Aclara to become the first vertically integrated heavy rare earths company outside of Asia,” the company said in a press release.

The initial capital expenditure is estimated at $354 million, including $244 million for the solvent extraction plant and $110 million for waste reduction and achieving zero liquid discharge.

The company must now submit exploitation and closure plans by the end of 2025, provide financial security and a company guarantee by June 30th, 2026, and begin mining by the end of 2028.

“The extension is a significant milestone, demonstrating strong local support for our project, which is expected to create numerous local jobs,” chairman and CEO Tony Sage said in the statement.

With the drilling program announced in September concluded, all rare earth material extracted has been secured in storage. A portion of the materials has been sent to be analyzed by ALS laboratory in Ireland. Critical Metals Corp said it expects to receive the test results in the coming months.

Located in Southern Greenland, the Tanbreez project is expected to contain over 27% heavy rare earth elements (HREE), which carry higher value than light rare earth elements.

Once operational, the mine is anticipated to supply rare earth elements to Europe and North America. The project is expected to have access to key transportation outlets as the Tanbreez area features year-round direct shipping access through deep-water fjords that lead directly to the North Atlantic ocean. The outcropping orebody, known as Kakortokite, covers an area of 8 km by 5 km and is about 400 metres thick.

Critical Metals, which owns Europe’s first fully permitted lithium mine, the Wolfsberg lithium project in Austria, debuted on the Nasdaq in March.

Upon completion of construction at Wolfsberg by 2026, Critical Metals has committed to supplying BMW by 2027. The company has also secured a deal with Obeikan Investment Group to build a lithium hydroxide plant in Saudi Arabia.

Shares in Critical Metals jumped over 2.8% on the NASDAQ. The company has a $536.6 million market capitalization.

The world’s largest producer of rare earths last month shipped 4,181 metric tons of the 17 minerals used to make products ranging from magnets in electric vehicles to consumer electronics, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

That compared with 4,723 tons in August and 3,935 tons in September 2023.

“Some exporters preferred to sell domestically amid a price rally driven by improved demand and tight supply last month,” said Yang Jiawen, an analyst at consultancy Shanghai Metals (SMM) Market.

China’s spot prices of praseodymium-neodymium oxide were up nearly 5% month-on-month at 428,000 yuan a ton on Sept. 30, SMM data showed.

Beijing’s implementation of new regulations on the industry from Oct. 1, lower-than-expected mining output as well as smelting and separation quota together with improved seasonally demand tightened domestic supply, supporting prices, said analysts.

“Meanwhile, overseas buying interest for magnet products receded amid the growing supply outside China,” SMM’s Yang said.

Exports in the first three quarters of 2024 climbed 6.4% from the same period a year before to 42,936 tons, the customs data showed.

China’s rare earths imports last month slipped 32% from the year before to 10,804 tons, bringing the total from January to September to 102,489.1 tons, a year-on-year decline of 23.7%.

(By Amy Lv and Colleen Howe; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Toby Chopra, Louise Heavens and Tomasz Janowski)

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, up just under $76 billion from end-June, largely on the back of gold and royalty stocks.

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022.  

Ranks, value of gold stocks swell

The value of precious metals and royalty companies climbed by a combined $42 billion, or 16% during the quarter and gold counters dominate the best performing ranks. 

Were it not for the limited tradability of stock in Russia’s Polyus, which lost some ground over the last three months despite gold’s stellar performance, bullion’s effect on the Top 50 would have been even more pronounced. 

Canada’s Alamos Gold joins the top 50 for the first time with a more than 31% jump in value, lifting it six places to number 48 with a valuation of $8.2 billion at the end of the quarter while the second quarter’s newcomer Pan American Silver (following its absorption of Yamana Gold) hangs on at no 50.

Alamos Gold last month raised its production guidance by over 20% for 2025-2026 with the inclusion of the Magino mine and its integration with its Island Gold operation in Ontario. The Toronto- based miner has long term ambitions to grow its production base to 900,000 ounces per year.

Uzbekistan is readying an IPO for Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat – the world’s fourth largest gold mining company and significant uranium producer in 2025. NMMC debuted a $1 billion bond offering last week, marking the first global debt market issuance from a gold mining company since June 2023.

Navoi should easily join the ranks of gold producers in the top 50 thanks to ownership of the world’s largest gold mine, Muruntau, and annual production of 2.9 million ounces at grades and per ounce extraction costs the envy of the sector.  

The Muruntau open pit mine southwest of the Kyzylkum desert, originally developed during the Soviet era as a source of uranium, has estimated reserves of around 130 million ounces of gold. 

Goldilocks copper

Copper specialists, and those with fat gold credits, have gained a combined 36% year to date as the copper price continues to flirt with the $10,000 a tonne level, but momentum slowed dramatically during Q3 with the group contributing only $7.2 billion in added market worth during the quarter. 

Amman Mineral’s fierce rally also came to an abrupt halt during the quarter with the counter losing 18% over the three months and coming close to falling out of the top 10.

Investors who bought Amman, owner of the world’s third largest mine worldwide in terms of copper equivalent, at the IPO price in Jakarta a year ago, are still enjoying 400% gains since then, however. 

Southern Copper’s position as the world’s third most valuable mining stock seems entrenched after a double digit percentage gain in Q3 compared to a much more sedate performance by Freeport-McMoRan, which now has to gain a full $20 billion in market cap to haul in its Mexico City-based rival.

Light on lithium 

Rio Tinto’s vote of confidence in the long term future of the lithium sector (and its own ability to make M&A work) dominated the news at the start of the December-quarter but it’s worth noting that Arcadium’s more than 90% surge since the all-cash offer was first announced is not enough for the stock to enter the rankings.

Three lithium counters exited the rankings this year, Australia’s Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources and China’s Tianqi Lithium as the deep slump in prices for the battery metal continues to take its toll.  

Last quarter’s no 50, Ganfeng Lithium jumps six places after being swept up in the stimulus-induced rally on Chinese stock markets at the end of the quarter, while Tianqi’s performance so far in October should see it reenter the Top 50 in due course. 

Ganfeng was barely holding on at position 50 at end-June and with gold price momentum continuing and two gold mining companies waiting in the winds – Yintai and Alamos – only three lithium counters in the top 50 may be a reality for some time to come. 

After peaking in the second quarter of 2022 with a combined value of nearly $120 billion, the remaining lithium stocks’ market value has now shrunk to $34 billion.  

Iron ore ground down

Despite a modest improvement during the quarter, the mining industry’s traditional big 5 – BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vale and Anglo American – remain in the red for 2024, losing $24 billion since the start of the year. 

The big 5 diversifieds now make up 29% of the total index, down from a height of 38% at the end of 2022.  

Iron ore’s less than rosy outlook – the late boost China’s recent stimulus package notwithstanding – saw Fortescue once again feature on the biggest losers list and Cleveland Cliffs exit the ranking with the US iron ore miner’s 37% decline this year exacerbated by its inability to capitalize on the blocking of the Nippon-US Steel tie up. 

Iron ore’s representation in the top 50 have diminished in the last couple of years – Brazil’s CSN Mineração dropped out during Q1 this year while Anglo-controlled and separately-listed Kumba Iron Ore has lost touch with the top tier after a 40% fall year to date.

Click on image for full size table.

NOTES:

Source: MINING.COM, stock exchange data, company reports. Share data from primary-listed exchange at close Oct 4, 2024 close of trading converted to US$ where applicable. Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not share price change in local currency.  

As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chile’s Codelco, Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining (the gold and uranium giant may list later this year), Eurochem, a major potash firm, and a number of entities in China and developing countries around the world.

Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.

For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or warrant a seat on the board?

This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chile’s Copec. 

Levels of operational or strategic involvement and size of shareholding were other central considerations. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialised financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals on the basis of their deep involvement in the industry.

Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy or Bayan Resources where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem. The revenue mix also tends to change alongside volatile coal prices. Same goes for battery makers like China’s CATL which is increasingly moving upstream, but where mining will continue to represent a small portion of its valuation.  

Another consideration is diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. We’ve included Angloplat in the ranking but excluded Kumba Iron Ore in which Anglo has a 70% stake to avoid double counting. Similarly we excluded Hindustan Zinc which is listed separately but majority owned by Vedanta.

Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.

Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia, but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the company’s HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.

Please let us know of any errors, omissions, deletions or additions to the ranking or suggest a different methodology.

After buying mining assets around the world over the past two decades to secure metals needed for industrialization and more recently to meet its carbon emissions targets, China now wants a bigger say in how prices of those metals are determined.

But it has lost market share in metals futures trading and needs to persuade international investors to use the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE), according to interviews with more than 10 brokers, traders, analysts, risk managers and consultants with direct knowledge of ShFE’s plans.

If successful, the push would help give Shanghai’s contracts benchmark status and upend the system for reference prices of industrial metals in place since 1877 when the London Metal Exchange (LME) started life above a hat shop in London.

ShFE benchmarks would eliminate the need for Chinese firms to link their physical contracts to LME prices and create a need for foreigners to trade on ShFE to influence reference prices in their contracts, shifting market sway from the west to China.

In recent meetings, the exchange told industry players the plan is high on its agenda and was likely to be put in place soon, but it did not discuss deadlines, two people said.

ShFE did not respond to requests for comment or to questions on timelines, amounts available to invest in this project, the challenges it faces or how success would be measured.

However, state media in June reported Wang Fenghai, general manager at ShFE, as saying: “Only through opening up can we draw in foreign investors, participate in the process of ShFE’s price establishment, therefore enhance price influence.”

Wang added that cross-border delivery capability was an area ShFE would focus on in terms of attracting global participation.

In a key step, the exchange has been looking to line up warehouses outside China to store metal delivered for copper contracts that were launched on its International Energy Exchange (INE) for foreigners in 2020.

ShFE has told industry stakeholders it intends to expand soon into international metals storage, two other sources with direct knowledge said, bidding to rival the LME’s global network of more than 450 registered warehouses that hold thousands of tons of aluminum, copper and other metals.

“They (ShFE) have a plan, they are coming out, they will list warehouses outside China, … the government wants this to happen,” one source familiar with the exchange’s thinking said.

While the metals industry has known since last year that ShFE plans to line up warehouses offshore, starting in Singapore, its latest comments to foreign firms suggest it is closer than ever to going ahead.

“A real price people want to use needs warehouse stocks the world over,” a source at a consultancy with knowledge of ShFE’s plans said.

Once ShFE makes a firm decision to offer metal storage outside China, the process of registering warehouses would be a matter of weeks if not days, as facilities already exist at ports that see large flows of metals, warehousing sources said.

ShFE will not need regulatory approvals for warehouses that can store metal deliverable against its contracts as long as they are located in free trade zones, so metal can be stored free of taxes until delivered to customers.

Singapore makes a good starting point as it is already a location for LME warehouses, which means the regulatory framework already exists.

All of the people who spoke to Reuters asked not to be named as their conversations with ShFE were private.

Rivals take market share

The Shanghai exchange faces a difficult road countering the LME, even as China consumes more than half of global supplies of copper, aluminum and zinc and produces large amounts of these metals.

“Any exchange that wants to achieve internationalization would face challenges … ShFE would face many challenges and various constraints if it aims to become a global pricing center,” Luo Xufeng, chairman of Nanhua Futures told Reuters.

Ultimately the exchange aims to list aluminum, zinc, nickel, lead and tin on the INE, sources with knowledge of ShFE’s plans said. Those metals are already traded on the LME, the world’s largest and oldest forum for metals, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx).

On the LME, volumes for copper, essential in construction, power systems and electrical goods, have stabilized at around 60% of copper futures globally.

But ShFE’s domestic market has lost ground to US-based COMEX, part of CME Group, since 2015, with ShFE last year accounting for around 15% of copper futures traded globally, while COMEX’s share was 22%.And in the first nine months of 2024, trading volumes on ShFE’s INE copper futures have dropped nearly 43% from the same period last year.

“The only way to increase volumes is get more international involvement in ShFE,” a metals trader with direct knowledge of the matter said, adding that China’s government was behind the project to internationalize ShFE’s contracts.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which regulates ShFE, and the State Council, China’s cabinet, did not respond to questions from Reuters.

Meanwhile, LME is working on plans to list new contracts using ShFE prices and is set to approve the expansion of its metals warehousing network into Hong Kong before the end of this year.

LME said it intends to “deepen our collaboration with ShFE by working together in product innovation to better serve international participants in risk management and price discovery,” in response to a request for comment on its plans.

Hurdles for ShFE

ShFE’s ambition has been long in the making. When HKEx bought the London exchange in 2012 with a plan to turbo-charge revenues by expanding LME warehousing into China, ShFE told local authorities it could mimic the LME’s network and give China power and influence over global metals markets.

Some of that influence would come from more foreigners trading on ShFE having to hold yuan accounts, which would boost Beijing’s aim to gain global acceptance of its currency. Contracts on ShFE and its INE platform are priced in yuan.

“ShFE has been trying to do this for over 10 years,” said Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading.

“The biggest challenge is that there are still restrictions on the conversion of yuan to dollars.”

China’s currency exchange controls that limit the amount of money companies can take out of the country at any one time, partly a measure to control currency volatility, are potential deterrents for foreign investors.

Sources also mentioned fear of Chinese authorities’ policies designed to steer commodities markets and government market interventions, such as on margin requirements – the deposits of cash or collateral clearing houses need to cover potential losses.

“They don’t like volatility. They could double, triple transaction fees and margins overnight if they want. It makes people nervous,” a source familiar with the matter at a resources-focused fund said.

(By Pratima Desai, Siyi Liu and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Veronica Brown, Tony Munroe and Sonali Paul)

The first-of-its-kind facility produces a sustainable alternative to rare earth permanent magnets that are critical inputs to a wide variety of technologies and industries including electric vehicles, wind energy and consumer electronics, the company said.

Approximately 90% of all powerful permanent magnets are produced in China, and the concentrated supply chain creates significant national security risks and environmental challenges.

Rare earth magnets currently on the market contain neodymium and other rare earth elements, while Niron’s “Clean Earth Magnet” technology is the first and only powerful permanent magnet that does not require any rare earth elements, Niron said, adding it is manufactured from iron and nitrogen — two abundant materials that can be sustainably sourced in the US and do not require new mining projects.

Last year, Niron raised $33 million in additional funding from lGM Ventures and Stellantis Ventures, as well as previous local investors Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the University of Minnesota. The company is also partnered with the Department of Defense and the US Naval Research Laboratory.

The opening of the 70,000-square-foot Minneapolis facility is a key milestone on Niron’s path to scaled production and the ability to bridge the acute supply and demand gap for permanent magnets that is projected before the end of the decade.

“Niron is advancing the magnet industry with an inherently sustainable technology developed right here in the US,” Niron Magnetics CEO Jonathan Rowntree said in a news release.

“With the official opening of our commercial pilot plant, we’ve taken a significant step towards establishing a reliable, domestic supply of high-performance magnets critical for US national security, while launching the next generation of clean energy technologies and sustainable manufacturing.”

The commercial pilot facility has production capacity of greater than 5 tons of Clean Earth Magnets per year and defined manufacturing processes for Niron’s full-scale manufacturing facility.

In a separate announcement this week, Niron named the city of Sartell, Minnesota, as the site for its second manufacturing facility, which it said is expected to break ground early next year and go into production in 2026.

Iron ore, copper and zinc have all managed to retain or add to their price gains over China’s week-long holiday, with Beijing’s focus on measures to revive the property market, plus the unusual pace and intensity of announcements, buoying sentiment.

Until now, Beijing has struggled to jumpstart an economy that hasn’t fired on all cylinders since before the pandemic, in large part because of its only limited and piecemeal efforts. The flurry of measures since the end of September marks a recognition that more heft is required, prompting a spectacular stock market rally.

Chinese industry delegates to LME Week, a major metals conference in London, were optimistic that this could be the long-awaited turning point for the world’s largest importer of raw materials. But not every corner of the commodities complex has been as exuberant, and some analysts have already cautioned it’s too soon for a victory lap.

“Commodities have benefited from the support measures that continue to come through,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV. However, “we need to see property prices stabilize and we also need to see excess housing inventory return to more normal levels, before getting really optimistic.”

Chinese authorities delivered a triple dose of support late last month: the central bank unveiled a broad package of monetary stimulus; the Politburo vowed to steady the housing market and provide sufficient fiscal spending; and then leading urban centers eased property curbs.

An announcement over the weekend that the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, will hold a briefing on Tuesday morning has the market hoping for more.

“It’s not even what they have already announced,” said Saad Rahim, chief economist at Trafigura Group. “But I think it’s the intent as well to say ‘we can do another batch, and another batch after that’,” he told Bloomberg TV last week.

Taken together, the measures could total 5 trillion yuan ($712 billion), Rahim said. “This is large enough to move the needle.”

Iron ore has been the standout, surging by more than a quarter since Sept. 23, with industrial metals like copper and aluminum also doing well. The share prices of global mining majors — including BHP Group Ltd. and Rio Tinto Plc — have been caught up in the optimism.

Housing inventory

Despite the upswing, there are still plenty of concerns that Beijing will need to act even more forcefully if it’s to snap the economy out of its deflationary funk — and restore China to its status as the growth engine for major commodities.

“Most Chinese people’s assets are in housing, and that has dropped so significantly, that’s holding back their consumption,” Linda Yueh, adjunct professor of economics at the London Business School, told a seminar at LME Week. One of the things that China needs, more than an equity-market recovery, is to resolve property sector issues, she said.

China’s housing inventory is at 43 million units, plus a further 8 million under construction, Morgan Stanley analysts including Chetan Ahya said in a note. But with sales of only 8 million a year, lifting prices and reviving demand will be challenging, they said.

There’s also the limited scope of the impact of the measures outside metals — another note of caution for bulls and for those looking for evidence that changes at the top are trickling down. There would need to be more measures that increased disposable incomes to have an impact on foodstuffs and agriculture, according to Zhang Zhidong, head of agricultural research at Guolian Futures. In oil, traders have been taking most of their cues from the combustible situation in the Middle East.

Read More: Iron ore price rally continues

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, up just under $76 billion from end-June, largely on the back of gold and royalty stocks.

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022.  

Ranks, value of gold stocks swell

The value of precious metals and royalty companies climbed by a combined $42 billion or 16% during the quarter and gold counters dominate the best performing ranks. 

Were it not for the limited tradability of stock in Russia’s Polyus, which lost some ground over the three months despite gold’s stellar performance, bullion’s effect on the Top 50 would have been even more pronounced. 

Canada’s Alamos Gold joins the top 50 for the first time with a  more than 31% jump in value lifting it six places to number 48 with a valuation of $8.2 billion at the end of the quarter while the second quarter’s newcomer Pan American Silver (following its absorption of Yamana Gold) hangs on at no 50.

Alamos Gold last month raised its production guidance by over 20% for 2025-2026 with the inclusion of the Magino mine and its integration with its Island Gold operation in Ontario. The Toronto based miner has long term ambitions to grow its production base to 900,000 ounces per year.

Uzbekistan is readying an IPO for Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat – the world’s fourth largest gold mining company and significant uranium producer in 2025. NMMC debuted a $1 billion bond offering last week, marking the first global debt market issuance from a gold mining company since June 2023.

Navoi should easily join the ranks of gold producers in the top 50 thanks to ownership of the world’s largest gold mine, Muruntau, and annual production of 2.9 million ounces at grades and per ounce extraction costs the envy of the sector.  

The Muruntau open pit mine southwest of the Kyzylkum desert, originally developed during the Soviet era as a source of uranium, has estimated reserves of around 130 million ounces of gold. 

Goldilocks copper

Copper specialists, and those with fat gold credits, have gained a combined 36% year to date as the copper price continues to flirt with the $10,000 a tonne level but momentum slowed dramatically during Q3 with the group contributing only $7.2 billion in added market worth during the quarter. 

Amman Mineral’s fierce rally also came to an abrupt halt during the quarter with the counter losing 18% over the three months and coming close to falling out of the top 10.

Investors who bought Amman, owner of the world’s third largest mine worldwide in terms of copper equivalent, at the IPO price in Jakarta a year ago, are still enjoying 400% gains since then however. 

Southern Copper’s position as the world’s third most valuable mining stock seems entrenched after a double digit percentage gain in Q3 compared to a much more sedate performance by Freeport-McMoRan which now has to gain a full $20 billion in market cap to haul in its Mexico City-based rival.

Light on lithium 

Rio Tinto’s vote of confidence in the long term future of the lithium sector (and its own ability to make M&A work) dominated the news at the start of the December-quarter but it’s worth noting that Arcadium’s more than 90% surge since the all-cash offer was first announced are not enough for the stock to enter the rankings.

Three lithium counters exited the rankings this year, Australia’s  Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources and China’s Tianqi Lithium as the deep slump in prices for the battery metal continues to take its toll.  

Last quarter’s no 50, Ganfeng Lithium jumps six places after being swept up in the stimulus-induced rally on Chinese stock markets at the end of the quarter while Tianqi’s performance so far in October should see it reenter the Top 50 in due course. 

Ganfeng was barely holding on at position 50 at end-June and with gold price momentum continuing and two gold mining companies waiting in the winds – Yintai and Alamos – only three lithium counters in the top 50 may be a reality for some time to come. 

After peaking in the second quarter of 2022 with a combined value of nearly $120 billion, the remaining lithium stocks’ market value has now shrunk to $34 billion.  

Iron ore ground down

Despite a modest improvement during the quarter, the mining industry’s traditional big 5 – BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vale and Anglo American – remain in the red for 2024, losing $24 billion since the start of the year. 

The big 5 diversifieds now make up 29% of the total index, down from a height of 38% at the end of 2022.  

Iron ore’s less than rosy outlook – the late boost China’s recent stimulus package notwithstanding – saw Fortescue once again feature on the biggest losers list and Cleveland Cliffs exit the ranking with the US iron ore miner’s 37% decline this year exacerbated by its inability to capitalize on the blocking of the Nippon-US Steel tie up. 

Iron ore’s representation in the top 50 have diminished in the last couple of years – Brazil’s CSN Mineração dropped out during Q1 this year while Anglo-controlled and separately-listed Kumba Iron Ore has lost touch with the top tier after a 40% fall year to date.

Click on image for full size table.

NOTES:

Source: MINING.COM, stock exchange data, company reports. Share data from primary-listed exchange at close Oct 4, 2024 close of trading converted to US$ where applicable. Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not share price change in local currency.  

As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chile’s Codelco, Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining (the gold and uranium giant may list later this year), Eurochem, a major potash firm, and a number of entities in China and developing countries around the world.

Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.

For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or warrant a seat on the board?

This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chile’s Copec. 

Levels of operational or strategic involvement and size of shareholding were other central considerations. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialised financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals on the basis of their deep involvement in the industry.

Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy or Bayan Resources where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem. The revenue mix also tends to change alongside volatile coal prices. Same goes for battery makers like China’s CATL which is increasingly moving upstream, but where mining will continue to represent a small portion of its valuation.  

Another consideration is diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. We’ve included Angloplat in the ranking but excluded Kumba Iron Ore in which Anglo has a 70% stake to avoid double counting. Similarly we excluded Hindustan Zinc which is listed separately but majority owned by Vedanta.

Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.

Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia, but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the company’s HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.

Please let us know of any errors, omissions, deletions or additions to the ranking or suggest a different methodology.

Shengchao Yan, a doctoral student at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and lead researcher on the study, explained that when magmatic mixtures are subjected to volcanic conditions, they separate into two distinct components: an iron phosphate (FeP) melt and a silicate melt. This process results in REEs becoming concentrated in the IOA deposits.

The global demand for REEs, which are essential for green energy technologies, has surged in recent years.

Despite being relatively abundant, these elements are often difficult to mine due to their tendency to occur in small concentrations or in complex mixtures with other minerals. Unexpected discoveries of REE-enriched rocks have been made in iron mines in places like Sweden and Chile, located on extinct iron-rich volcanoes with large IOA deposits.

Michael Anenburg, an experimental petrologist at Australian National University and coauthor of the study, noted that the presence of rare earth elements is often overlooked in such mines.

“In many cases, we find REEs or other metals by accident,” he said. While these mines primarily extract iron oxide, further investigation may reveal untapped REE reserves.

Currently, China dominates the global market for rare earths, accounting for 70% of mine output and 89% of refining.

All mining activities in the east African country have previously been done by private firms after obtaining exploration and mining licenses.

Under a new mining law approved in 2022, the government can compulsorily take a 15% free carry stake in all mining operations in the country.

The move is part of broader efforts to expand Uganda’s share of the value from its mineral wealth, following in the footsteps of other African countries such as Tanzania.

“This company will manage the state’s commercial interests in the mining industry. It will do so through strategic partnerships with young developers in the private sector,” Nankabirwa told a mining conference in Kampala on Tuesday.

President Yoweri Museveni’s government has also been pushing investors in the sector to process minerals and add value domestically instead of exporting them in raw form.

In April, Uganda launched its first tin refining company by mining firm Woodcross resources, which refines tin ore to 99.9% purity.

Chinese-backed Sunbird Resources has also been licensed to mine limestone for cement production in Karamoja region in Uganda’s northeast region, while Australia’s Ionic Rare Earths has been licensed to mine and process rare earths.

Ugandan geologists say the country has large deposits of a range of minerals including gold, cobalt, copper, iron ore, rare earths, among others.

(By Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa and Rashmi Aich)

Rare earth elements are key components for the manufacturing of magnets powering electric vehicles and wind turbines. China currently controls 95% of the global production and supply of these critical minerals.

The MOU, says Defense Metals, provides a framework for the parties to leverage their respective capabilities and interests in the supply and processing of rare earth materials that are especially critical to the production of rare earth magnets.

Defense Metals is currently developing the Wicheeda REE deposit in British Columbia, estimated to contain over 34 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 2.02% total rare earth oxides (TREOs), for nearly 700,000 tonnes of TREOs.

SRC represents Canada’s second-largest research and technology organization, and is currently building a rare earth processing facility in Saskatoon that has received over C$100 million in government funding.

“This MOU represents a significant step forward in our goal of becoming part of a secure and sustainable supply chain for rare earth elements in North America,” Defense Metals executive chairman Guy de Selliers said in a news release.

“By working together with SRC, we believe we can make substantial progress toward closing the rare earth supply chain loop and ensuring the availability of these critical materials for green energy and defence applications that are essential for national security,” he added.

SRC’s processing facility recently begun production on a commercial scale, making Saskatchewan the first and only jurisdiction to do so in North America. The Council expects to hit a production target of 40 tonnes of rare earth metals a month by the end of this year.

The plan, part of a broader $100 billion industrial policy vision Harris’ campaign laid out Wednesday, also called for new incentives and the use of emergency government powers under the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to increase domestic processing of critical minerals.

“Increased domestic production will be paired with innovative and sustainable steps to build stronger critical mineral supply chains alongside our allies and partners, including by incentivizing investments that expand US and allied production of these resources,” the Harris campaign said in a statement. “These efforts will reduce our dependence on China, which leads production on many critical minerals.”

As part of the plan, the campaign said Harris was proposing “America Forward” tax credits to be used in the energy, manufacturing and agricultural sectors that would be “linked to the treatment of workers” and paid for in part by Harris’ proposal to overhaul the international tax system.

Critical minerals — which include dozens of materials including antimony, lithium, and cobalt — are those considered essential to the economy and at risk of supply disruption. The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the US and the Chinese Communist Party in December recommended creating a reserve of critical minerals “to insulate American producers from price volatility” and protect against China’s “weaponization of its dominance in critical mineral supply chains.”

The committee also recommended spending $1 billion to expand an existing National Defense Stockpile, an inventory of critical minerals managed by the Defense Department that is used to provide emergency access to domestic manufacturers for defense purposes.

“Over the past several decades, China has cornered the market for processing and refining of key critical minerals, leaving the US and our allies and partners vulnerable to supply chain shocks and undermining economic and national security,” the White House said in a statement last week. “As the world builds a clean energy economy, demand for critical minerals is projected to grow exponentially.”

(By Ari Natter)

The funding round was led by ArcTern Ventures and supported by BDC Capital’s Climate Tech Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, Climate Investment and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. Existing investors Fifth Wall, BMW i Ventures, Energy Impact Partners and Planetary Technologies also participated in the round.

The funding brings total equity raised to over $83 million and will enable it to fast-track its international growth, the company said in a news release.

Established in 2021, Cyclic Materials said its proprietary technologies are capable of economically and sustainably recovering critical raw materials from end-of-life electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines and data center electronic waste.

Over the past year, the company has forged partnerships with industry players Solvay, Vattenfall, Synetiq and VACUUMSCHMELZE to recycle magnets containing REEs and establish a circular supply chain.

Cyclic will deploy the capital to build rare earth recycling infrastructure in the US and Europe, and grow its team to support its operations. The company said its process of recycling these rare earth materials from magnets achieves significant environmental benefits in comparison to traditional mining processes, including a reduced carbon footprint and water efficiency.

“This funding underscores the confidence in our ability to create the circular economy for rare earths needed for the clean energy transition,” CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said in a news release.

“Not only is our technology essential for supporting sustainable domestic production of rare earths, but it will also play a critical role in re-establishing North American and European leadership in the rare earths industry.”

The Series B funding follows a $3.6 million grant award from Natural Resources Canada that supports the continued operation of Cyclic Materials’ commercial demonstration facility (Hub100) for producing high-purity REEs from recycled magnet material and preparing for scaling to larger operations.

The amount equals the initial capital required for the 2.3-billion-tonne project’s first stage, the Cowboy State mine, the Australian-based company said on Tuesday. The funding from the US Export-Import Bank, to be finalized after due diligence, could have a repayment term of 15 years, the bank said in a non-binding letter of interest.

American Rare Earths shares closed more than 16% stronger on the ASX on Tuesday at A$0.30 apiece. The company has a A$143.2 million market capitalization.

“This letter of interest from EXIM Bank is a significant milestone, highlighting the US government’s commitment to securing a robust domestic rare earth supply chain,” CEO Chris Gibbs said in a release. “The potential funding also paves the way to accelerate offtake agreements and attract strategic investors.”

Mining Intelligence ranked the project, being developed by American Rare Earth’s US unit Wyoming Rare, as one of the world’s top 10 rare earth projects measured in total rare earth oxides (TREO). The company envisions it as a multi-generational mine to challenge China’s dominance in producing the metals used in the magnets of electric vehicle motors.

Resource update

Halleck Creek’s ore grades 3,196 parts per million (ppm) TREO including neodymium and praseodymium for 7.5 million tonnes of contained TREO, according to a resource estimate updated in February along Australian JORC regulations. The estimate includes 1.42 billion tonnes in the measured and indicated category.

“We are grateful for the recognition and support from EXIM Bank, which will be instrumental in securing the funding needed to fast-track the development of this important project,” Wyoming Rare president Joe Evers said in the same release.

The funding would come from the federal agency’s Make More In America Initiative, American Rare Earths said.

The company cancelled a plan in April to spin off Wyoming Rare into a special purpose acquisition company to be separately listed. It had sought a similar path to how MP Materials (NYSE: MP) operates the only rare earths mine in the US, Mountain Pass in California.

Wyoming Rare also holds the La Paz rare earth deposit in Arizona, the Searchlight project in Nevada and the Beaver Creek project in Wyoming.

The newly acquired tenement has existing outcropping pegmatites that have returned promising results, as well as several small-scale artisanal mines, which are known to be associated with niobium and tantalum occurrences.

Niobium and tantalum are transition metals that are almost always found together in nature. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the steel industry uses nearly 80% of the world’s produced niobium to manufacture high-strength low-alloy steels. Tantalum stores and releases energy, which is why the electronics industry consumes more than 50% of the world’s production.

The agreement with RTB Geologia and Mineracao will see Summit paying A$50,000 cash and issuing 800,000 ordinary shares in the company. Half of the shares will be escrowed for six months from the completion date, Summit said.

“This is another exceptional acquisition for the company to add areas of geological significance which have proven results,” managing director Gower He said in a statement. “This project just continues to amaze us on its potential and areas of growth.”

As part of due diligence analysis, the company collected rock chips which indicated grades similar to the existing Equador project results. 

The results include 42.93% niobium pentoxide, 11.39% tantalum pentoxide, and 33,310 parts per million (ppm) partial rare earth oxides (PREO); and 21.21% niobium pentoxide, 79.49% tantalum pentoxide, and 199,150ppm PREO. 

The rare earths and niobium-focused explorer has also completed a bulk sampling program to provide a sufficient representative sample for the metallurgical test program.

This will assess the ability to create economical niobium and tantalum concentrate and assist in driving the decisions around the next stages of the development plan for the overall project, Summit said.

Outside Brazil, Summit Minerals is also engaged in exploration activities in Canada and Western Australia. 

Shares in the company spiked on the news, closing 5.77% higher on Tuesday at A$0.28 each, which leaves it with a market capitalization of A$23.19 million ($16m).

Australia’s American Rare Earths said on Tuesday it had received a letter of interest for a debt funding package of up to $456 million from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to support construction of the Cowboy State Mine area at its Halleck Creek project in Wyoming.

“We are hopeful that it will serve as an anchor to help attract private funding into the project,” said Melissa Sanderson, a member of the company’s board of directors.

The bank has also offered $330 million to finance the construction of Anson Resources’ lithium production plant in the Paradox Basin, Utah, the Australian company said on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the bank backed two Australia-listed listed rare earths projects by Australian Strategic Materials and Meteoric Resources with up to $850 million of funding.

The United States and Australia established a critical minerals taskforce last year as Australia seeks to attract investment in minerals processing from allied countries, aiming to reduce reliance on China, which currently controls more than 80% of the global supply.

(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Subhranshu Sahu)

The Saskatchewan Research Council rare earth processing facility is betting on demand for these magnets to jump in the next couple of years, driven by demand from original equipment manufacturers such as automakers.

The Canadian province, home to copper, potash and uranium mines, is known for its mining prowess.

China controls 95% of the global production and supply of rare earth metals. The near-monopoly allows the country to dictate prices and create uncertainty for end users through export controls.

In the last year, China has placed export controls on some critical metals such as germanium, gallium and antimony, forcing western governments to look for alternatives.

The SRC rare earth processing facility has begun production on a commercial scale and expects to hit a production target of 40 tonnes of rare earth metals per month by the end of this year. And it will produce 400 tonnes of the NdPr metals per year, which is enough to produce 500,000 EVs, according to SRC. The facility has already tied up with potential clients in South Korea, Japan and the United States.

“Our focus is to remain competitive within the Asian Metals Price Index,” said Muhammad Imran, vice president of the SRC Rare Earth Element. “We are constantly looking to optimize our facility using artificial intelligence applications that would keep our process efficient,” Imran said.

The price of rare earth metals such as neodymium praseodymium, known as NdPr, fluctuates between $65,000 and $75,000 per tonne, a price determined by the Chinese government.

However, some miners have been asking for a premium price for metals produced outside China, arguing that Chinese metals are produced with low environmental, social and governance standards.

Regardless, Imran said, the market will remain competitive and manufacturers have to be prepared to meet the reference point of the Asian Metals Index.

“This is what the market is telling you the price for rare earth is, if someone can strike a better deal that’s great, but premium or no premium the market is going to be competitive,” he said.

(By Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Frank McGurty, Chizu Nomiyama and Alan Barona)

Nevertheless, says McKinsey, the industry is in healthier financial shape compared to historical averages. 

From 2000 to 2023, metals and mining revenues grew by $1.7 trillion, a jump of roughly 75% and affording the industry a 70% slice of the overall materials business which also includes plastics, pulp, and building materials. As a whole, materials represent some 7% of the global GDP.  

Profits in the industry have also been robust with mining, refining and metal fabrication EBITDA nearly doubling over the almost quarter century going from $500 billion to $900 billion. 

Moreover, Mckinsey points out, mining and metal companies’ debt burden has decreased with net debt over EBITDA ratios of 1.3 times, well below the through-cycle average of 1.8 times. 

“However, 2024 has already proven to be a more challenging year for the industry as overall economic growth slows down and the shift toward low-carbon technologies unfolds more slowly than expected, both of which are putting downward pressure on price levels, especially for battery materials, such as nickel and lithium,” McKinsey says.

Not only are battery and other metals associated with decarbonisation facing headwinds, the sector – even when lumping in bellwether copper – hardly makes up 15% of global metals and mining revenues. Until such time the copper price reaches the levels predicted by more outlandish scenarios, the share is not likely to grow much.  

For instance, the market size of rare earths mining, and metal and alloy production (included in the other section of the graph) which is used in defence applications and many energy transition applications including wind turbines and motors for electric vehicles, is below $20 billion.

Thermal coal and steel account for around 60%–70% of revenues and production volumes of 7 billion tonnes and 2 billion tonnes respectively are more than 30 times higher than all other metals and minerals combined. Output by the largest among the latter, aluminum, at roughly 100 million tonnes, does not make much of a dent in the overall total.

The bulk of mining and metals activity and revenues remains subjected to the ups and downs of the global economy, particularly the outlook for China where the signs are not great.  

While the green energy transition may rightfully represent a new dawn for mining, it’s still very early in the morning.

In July, SRC finalized tolling agreements with several international clients to convert individual rare earth oxides into metals using metal smelting at the facility.

Since 2020, SRC’s rare earth processing facility has received C$71 million in funding from the government of Saskatchewan, as well as C$30 million in combined funding from the government of Canada. The funding was instrumental in helping construct a vertically and laterally integrated “minerals to metals” facility equipped with state-of-the-art, proprietary technology, SRC said.

Using in-house developed technology in metal smelting, SRC’s facility is ready to produce 10 tonnes of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metals per month, with purities greater than 99.5% and conversions greater than 98%, the Council said.

“Saskatchewan [is] the first and only jurisdiction in North America to produce these rare earth metals, further establishing a rare earth technological hub here in the province,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a media statement.

“This represents a significant opportunity for Saskatchewan to be a world leader in the area of critical mineral development by establishing a secure and sustainable rare earth supply chain,” Moe said.

Once fully operational in early 2025, SRC’s rare earth processing facility is expected to produce approximately 400 tonnes of NdPr metals per year, enough to power 500,000 electric vehicles.

On Wednesday, Aclara announced it has received the consolidated report from Chile’s Environmental Service Assessment (SEA) containing observations and questions from the agencies involved in the evaluation process.

The company said it is aiming to file a response addressing the matters raised in the report by the end of the first quarter of 2025, while it works the Chilean environmental agency through the assessment and review process.

The news comes a day after the Chilean government unveiled a comprehensive “Industrial Strengthening Plan” for the Biobío region, highlighting the Penco module as one of the key projects selected to bolster the region’s future economic growth. For the region, the Penco project represents a combined potential investment of $6.8 billion and the creation of up to 5,000 jobs during the operational phases, the government said.

“This announcement reaffirms the strategic nature of our Penco Module project for the Biobío region and the Chilean government,” Aclara CEO Ramon Barua said in Tuesday’s news release.

Updated EIA

In June, Aclara filed an updated EIA for the Penco project to address issues brought up by the SEA in its first EIA submitted over two years ago. The new report included improved technical design addressing environmental and social requirements, in particular the exclusion of the Jupiter deposition zone to minimize impact on a native tree species called naranjillo.

The new EIA essentially divided the Penco module into two parts without affecting the initial capital payback period, which was estimated at about five years in a preliminary economic assessment from 2021. The PEA gave the initial Penco project an after-tax net present value (at 5% discount) of $178 million and an internal rate of return of 23%.

The Penco module covers a 6-sq.-km area hosting an ionic clay deposit rich in heavy rare earths, with measured and indicated resources totalling 27.5 million tonnes grading 2,292 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO), for 62,900 tonnes of contained TREO.

The planned project does not accompany a tailings facility for waste. Instead, Aclara plans to place the washed clays into deposition zones and revegetate them. As part of the modified project, the company also launched a reforestation program.

Following the new EIA submission, analysts from Canaccord Genuity noted that that assuming Chile’s environmental agency requests more information after the new EIA is submitted, and after a project construction period of about 12 months, first production could start at Penco as soon as 2027.

Read more: Aclara Resources to start rare earths production in Brazil in 2027

Even when it does, China’s dominance of the market — it controls about 70% of output and more than 90% of refining — means that goal will likely remain out of reach.

The Texas plant, to be built by Australia-based Lynas Rare Earths Ltd., represents a fraction of billions of dollars in subsidies and loans promised for the production and refining of the minerals in the US and its key allies. For the 149-acre (60 hectares) site, Lynas won more than $300 million in Pentagon contracts. If all goes to plan, it will be operating a plant to process rare earths there in two years.

But while national security is a primary driver of the programs in the US and elsewhere, a slump in prices since 2022 is undermining the business case for those projects. That’s raising questions about whether this and similar efforts can develop into a supply chain to rival Chinese firms protected by their government.

“These market conditions have now destroyed most of the hoped-for projects from just a couple years back,” said James Litinsky, the CEO of MP Materials Corp., which owns the only rare earths mine in the US and is building a factory to manufacture magnets in Texas.

“Despite the efforts and investments of many governments, Chinese control over the vast majority of the supply chain remains,” Litinsky said on an earnings call last month.

The metals the US and allies are focused on aren’t actually “rare” but seldom exist in high enough concentrations to justify the often environmentally-hazardous mining. They include 17 chemically-related elements that have properties useful for making electronics in products from phones to fighter jets more efficient.

Laura Taylor-Kale, the assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, promised earlier this year that the US will have a “sustainable mine-to-magnet supply chain capable of supporting all US defense requirements by 2027.” She said that once the Lynas project in Texas is operating, the company “will produce approximately 25% of the world’s supply of rare earth element oxides.”

In recent years, the global price slump has been driven by increased supply from China and elsewhere, as well as the weakening Chinese economy, which has meant that domestic industry can’t absorb the higher output.

China’s Ministry of Natural Resources and its industry ministry didn’t respond to requests to explain their reason for raising mining quotas for rare earths in 2023 and 2024, which analysts says helped drive down prices.

“Most rare earths mines are struggling to break even under low prices while early-stage projects face delays and funding shortfalls,” according to a Sept. 3 report in Benchmark Source. Those factors are “potentially slowing the West’s push to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains,” it added.

Some projects are already reporting setbacks.

Arafura Rare Earths Ltd. is one firm which looks to be struggling to ramp up as planned. It secured an A$840 million ($560 million) Australian government loan this year, with the company raising more capital in July and saying that the project is ready to start construction.

It signed offtake agreements with two Korean auto firms in 2022 for production from its Nolans project north of Alice Springs, Australia, but hasn’t started building.

“We’ve got the debt, we’ve got the approvals, the offtakes are largely in place,” said CEO Darryl Cuzzubbo. “The one missing piece is the equity. We are pushing to get that by the end of the year — that would allow us to start construction first thing next year.”

Cuzzubbo said his goal is to get half the equity from “cornerstone investors, which is tracking very well,” adding that “once we’ve got that, we will then go to the rest of the market for the remaining 50%.”

Iluka Resources Ltd. is another firm confronting multiplying hurdles as it invests in rare earths production in Australia. The company was the recipient of a A$1.25 billion loan in 2022 to develop Australia’s first integrated rare earths refinery, which it aimed to open in 2026. But this year it announced the project could cost as much as A$1.8 billion, well above initial estimates.

Earlier this year, the firm’s chief executive officer accused China of trying to manipulate prices and take control of the industry in Australia.

“China’s influence over the global rare earths market is pervasive,” CEO Tom O’Leary said in May. “It is this monopolistic production, combined with interference in pricing, that is resulting in market failure.”

Lessons from Japan

It was a similar experience that started Japan on the road to reduce its dependence on China for rare earths more than a decade ago. The results show that these projects take longer and are more expensive than initially expected.

Tokyo invested in Lynas in 2011 with a $250 million investment after Beijing temporarily cut off supplies over a territorial dispute. It took two years before trial production began and even longer to ramp up to forecast levels, according to company statements. The firm didn’t turn a profit until 2018.

It was support from Japan’s companies and the government that helped keep Lynas afloat, CEO Amanda Lacaze said in an interview. Japan backed Lynas by “putting some money in for capital and investment and development of our assets, but also then supporting us through a period of very, very low pricing,” she said.

Japan eventually cut its dependence on Chinese rare earth supplies to around 60% from 80%-90%, former Economic Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi said in an interview.

However, even more critical was patience, Lacaze said. That was underscored by a company announcement last month: An issue with wastewater permits means that earthworks planned for the Texas facility this year are unlikely to happen, Lynas said in its latest earnings report.

“Patient capital in mining and also in an area where you’re doing something for the first time is really important,” Lacaze said in August. “If we truly want an industry, we do have to recognize that we’re playing a 30-year catch-up game.”

The company said the Carina deposit, in the state of Goiás, could generate 191 tonnes a year of dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb), which are heavy rare earths used in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.

Aclara, which updated this week the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for regolith-hosted ion adsorption clay project, now pegs the project’s net present value at $1.5 billion, using an 8% discount rate, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 27% over the 22-year mine life.

Initial capital costs are estimated at $593 million, with low sustaining costs of $86 million.

The project is forecast to generate $505 million in annual net revenue and $366 million in EBITDA.

Chief executive officer Ramón Barua told Reuters that once in operations, Carina’s production would represent about 13% of China’s 2023 output for these materials.

The Toronto-based company, with offices in Chile and Brazil, is progressing faster than expected on the Carina project, originally slated for production in 2029. Aclara’s has gained momentum mostly thanks to agreements with both state and local governments to expedite the permitting process.

If the necessary approvals are granted within 18 months, as anticipated, production could begin as early as 2027, or possibly in 2028, Barua said in the interview with Reuters.

No tailings

Aclara’s extraction process reduces its environmental impact by eliminating the need for explosives and milling. The company recycles 95% of its water and uses common fertilizers, leaving no liquid waste that would require tailings dams.

For the rest of the year and next, Aclara plans to conduct additional drilling and metallurgical studies to support a pre-feasibility study and the construction of a pilot plant.

Brazil, which holds the world’s third-largest rare earth reserves, is becoming a hotspot for early-stage projects as Western nations seek to reduce their dependence on China for critical elements in the supply chain.

In addition to the Carina project, Aclara is also pursuing environmental approvals for a smaller deposit in Chile, known as Penco, which is expected to follow a similar 18-month approval timeline.

Located in the southern Bío-Bío region, Penco is backed by Chilean conglomerate CAP SA and covers a 6-sq.-km area hosting an ionic clay deposit rich in heavy rare earths. Measured and indicated resources total 27.5 million tonnes, grading 2,292 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO), for 62,900 tonnes of contained TREO.

The planned project doesn’t have a tailings facility for waste. After processing, Aclara plans to place washed clays into deposition zones and revegetate them.

(With files from Reuters)

It’s not that American engineers can’t extract these minerals—far from it. Ask any mining engineer and they’ll tell you it’s entirely possible. But ask a corporate executive or financier and they will tell you that it is simply not worth it. This, despite the fact that these materials are the building blocks for semiconductors, solar panels, and defense systems.

Margins for mining by-products like many of those minerals listed on the US critical minerals list are thin, their markets minute compared to the global juggernauts of aluminum, steel, and iron. For a sense of scale, take the market size for tellurium, which was $464 million in 2021, vs. copper’s market size of roughly $200 billion in that same year. Big mining companies have little incentive to invest in these niche materials when they can just as easily sweep them into the waste stream without denting their balance sheets.

The incentives need to change. The US is not mining in a vacuum—China, through its aggressive industrial policies and state support, has already locked down supply chains for most of these minerals. It has recently imposed export restrictions on germanium, gallium, natural graphite, and antimony.

S&P Global recently reported that the US has around $8 trillion worth of minerals that are trapped underground. As policymakers scramble to diversify supply chains and reduce reliance on adversaries, they’re missing the bigger picture. It’s not about finding more minerals. It’s about rethinking how we make what we already have financially viable.

One promising solution is floating around Washington policy circles: a Strategic Resource Reserve (SRR). The idea is for Congress to establish long-term purchase agreements for critical minerals like gallium and tellurium, thereby giving mining companies a guaranteed buyer. Offtake agreements for by-products alone won’t cut it—these contracts must come with financial incentives significant enough to change corporate behavior.

Policymakers need to think bigger. One way to augment the offtake agreements is to add preferential rates for minerals deemed critical to national security and technology development. Without these measures, we are doomed to repeat the cycle of missed opportunities, as American-made minerals continue to slip into obscurity.

Aligning national security interests with corporate motives is critical. Other mechanisms, like the rumored US Sovereign Wealth Fund—could match spending in greenfield investment in the US up to a certain threshold if a mining corporation goes into an offtake agreement for certain minerals. For instance, Congress could authorize a 1:1 matching of investment for the delineation of new deposits through leveraging the Fund’s capital base. To support the building of new mines, the Fund could offer concessional financing terms for a portion of the capex required through debt, or even take direct equity stakes in exchange for offtake into the SRR.

Investments in smaller-market critical minerals may not light up the quarterly earnings call, but they are essential to the nation’s long-term economic and strategic future. A $20 million tellurium project might be a rounding error on many corporate balance sheets, but they play an outsize role in both meeting energy transition goals, as well as national security needs.

Critical minerals are hiding in plain sight, waiting for policymakers and executives to stop asking whether it’s possible and start asking how it can be made profitable.

(Gabriel Collins is a graduate student researcher at the Colorado School of Mines; Ian Lange is an associate professor of economics at the Colorado School of Mines; and Morgan Bazilian is director of the Payne Institute and professor of public policy at the Colorado School of Mines.)

The Tanbreez deposit currently hosts 28.2 million tonnes of total rare earth oxides (TREO) contained in 4.7 billion tonnes of material, of which more than 25% are heavy rare earth elements (HREE), according to internal company estimates. This makes Tanbreez the largest known REE project in the world.

“The Tanbreez project offers immense potential for reducing western countries’ reliance on China for critical materials needed to support the transition to clean energy and defense applications, thereby bolstering national security,” Critical Metals CEO Tony Sage said in a news release.

Earlier this summer, the company acquired its 42% stake in the project from a company controlled by geologist Gregory Barnes, who is supervising the drilling program alongside two other rare earths experts.

The drilling program, part of its efforts to convert the resource into US SEC standards, will consist of 14 holes with a total cumulative length of up to 2,200 metres. The program will evaluate the resources contained in the mine and its projected lifespan, and is expected to last approximately 30 days.

“In my 22 years’ experience of drilling in Greenland, I have never seen a core sample quite like this. I am anxiously awaiting the assay results,” Barnes said in Wednesday’s news release.

Meanwhile, Critical Metals continues to progress its plans to undergo a SK-1300 assessment and move towards conducting a comprehensive feasibility study.

Following the drilling program, the company plans to conduct percussion drilling to delineate the mineralization in the selected areas, perform twin hole drilling on certain targets and effectively test the revised geophysical model to solidify its development strategy for the project.

According to Critical Metals, significant progress has already been made regarding the pre-operational activities for the asset. Tanbreez was awarded a key exploitation licence four years ago, and extensive studies have been completed.

In addition to the 14 drill holes for the program, 414 drill holes and more than 366,000 assays have already been conducted, providing a rich database on the deposit’s geology, geochemistry and rare earth element distribution, the company said.

Shares of Critical Metals rose 3.0% on the Nasdaq in early afternoon’s trading, sending its market capitalization to $677.4 million.

Eisenhower’s reflection came one year into his presidency. With an armistice ending the Korean War, he faced an economy emerging from recession, Communists occupying Hanoi and an obscure army officer, Gamal Abdel Nasser, seizing power in Egypt. His quip became part of the lexicon of business and political leaders, seeking to distil long from short-term priorities amidst the blizzard of issues competing for their time.

Today, one strategic imperative for the US (and the West) is becoming increasingly urgent, namely the vulnerability of supply chains, and in particular the critical minerals vital for electric vehicles, battery storage and the wider energy transition.

The International Energy Agency estimates that we need an extra $800 billion of investment in new mining projects by 2040 to meet the 1.5 °C target. To appreciate the scale of the challenge, compare critical minerals to oil, with its historically fraught impact on international relations.

Whilst no single country has more than a 15% share of oil supply, China has a more than 80% share in gallium, magnesium, tungsten, to take just three critical minerals – and controls almost all the mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo which produces over 70% of cobalt.

The West is 20 years behind China, which avails itself of the subsidies, price control and long-term planning that only a command economy can, creating a massive cost of capital disadvantage for Western investors. In such a concentrated market, over-production – take nickel – can deflate the price artificially, undermining Western investment despite massive long-term demand. It is now a major geopolitical fault line, exposing Western vulnerability.

What plans do candidates Trump and Harris have to redress the balance? There is bi-partisan support in the US Congress for the strategic goals of friend-shoring the extraction and refinement of critical minerals to bolster economic resilience. The Rubio-Warner Global Strategy for Securing Critical Minerals Act 2024 proposes adding to the US government’s financial toolkit to leverage greater investment and expanding diplomatic initiatives to diversify supply chains.

Meanwhile, former President Trump’s vow to repeal the subsidy-funnelling Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may be tempered by Congressional opposition. Recent analysis found that 80% of IRA investments have landed in Republican states.

My experience chairing, on behalf of Appian Capital Advisory, a group of investors advising US policy-makers via the organisation Securing America’s Future Energy, suggests an effective strategy requires three pillars. First, stronger policy levers to level the playing field.

The current US administration is considering demand-side tools like contracts-for-difference, fixed price floors, and loan guarantees to try to off-set the cost of capital disadvantage Western firms face. The aim of promoting a race to the top – with the highest ESG standards in mining reflected in investor pricing – is laudable.

It remains to be seen how such a ‘premium’ market would work in practice, and whether it would be attractive to developing countries currently benefiting from China’s Belt and Road investments. Whatever the mix of grants, loans, guarantees, tariffs, export restrictions and other tools, mitigating CapEx costs is the greatest conundrum.

Second, friend-shoring needs to be more ambitious. The US, let alone its allies, cannot be individually self-sufficient. We need to forge wider clusters of high-trust partnerships to provide broader, end-to-end supply chains. The Five Eyes intelligence and security alliance of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand could expand its scope to cover critical minerals security – given the breadth of resources and capacities each brings to the table.

Japan too, is a key high trust partner in this space. Next, the US-lead Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), comprising America’s core transatlantic and Pacific allies, must reach beyond its comfort zone. The admission of India, a pivotal non-aligned power, brings the number to 15. But can we coax linchpin producers like Brazil, Peru, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia into the MSP?

Finally, we need better public-private partnerships. Businesses can bring investor acumen, technical expertise, innovation and high ESG standards. For example, Appian Capital Advisory has invested in US Strategic Metals in Missouri, not just to mine and process nickel, lithium, copper and cobalt, but also to introduce state-of-the-art recycling of lithium-ion batteries.

For its part, in addition to financial support, governments need to streamline permitting, and collaborate better to provide diplomatic and security assurances, and deploy aid in ways that support supply chains – for example, financing roads, rail and port infrastructure in developing countries.

As I meet with governments and businesses in the US, Japan and Australia this month, these are the important and urgent challenges we will be discussing – and the next US President will have to overcome. 

Dominic Raab is the head of global affairs at Appian Capital Advisory, and former UK foreign secretary and deputy prime minister.

The government in Ankara is poised to dispatch Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar to lead a delegation to China in October for advanced talks, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. The push would follow Turkey’s formal bid to join the BRICS group of emerging market nations including China and Russia.

Turkey is hopeful that a breakthrough could encourage Chinese companies including BYD Co., the world’s biggest maker of electric cars, to consider producing batteries following a recent deal to make EVs in the country, the people said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan in early July and discussed cooperation with China in developing the metals, the people said.

The Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry declined to comment. China’s Ministry of Commerce didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Two years ago, Turkey discovered what it described as a large reserve of rare earth elements in Beylikova near Eskisehir in central Anatolia. The Energy Ministry has said it’s ready to build a refinery there to process the raw material.

“We continue our work to commission an industrial-scale facility that will make our country an important player in the global rare-earth elements supply chain,” Turkey’s Industry and Technology Minister Fatih Kacir said last month. The country wants to be active across the supply chain from raw materials to finished electric vehicles and batteries, he said.

Over the past three decades, China has built a dominant role in mining and especially in refining rare earths, a cluster of 17 elements used in everything from wind turbines to military hardware and electric vehicles.

China’s clout is causing growing alarm in Washington and Brussels, but efforts to bolster alternative supplies of rare earths and other critical minerals have faced a litany of challenges including technical setbacks, regulatory delays and social opposition.

Chinese manufacturers are looking for better access to the European Union, with which Turkey has a customs agreement, as the bloc starts imposing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. BYD has already signed a deal to build a factory in Turkey. The country has also held separate negotiations with Chery Automobile Co Ltd., SAIC Motor Corp., and Great Wall Motor Co.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper reported at the time that the find created an opportunity for China and Turkey to cooperate.

Turkey wants to refine the compounds discovered in Beylikova into individual elements of the highest possible purity, the people said.

(By Selcan Hacaoglu and Firat Kozok)