Joint development of a rare earth processing plant from mineral sands planned.
Australian mining company FYI Resources is entering the rare earth sector. On Tuesday, it announced the gradual acquisition of Minhub Operations (PDF), the operator of the Minhub Project, a Northern Territory-based processing facility for rare earths from mineral sands deposits.
The right of first refusal for the minerals produced there, such as monazite, which is rich in rare earths like neodymium and praseodymium, will be granted to the Australian mining group Arafura, FYI’s announcement says. The latter is currently developing its Nolans rare earth mining and processing plant, also in the Northern Territory; future customers include Hyundai and Siemens Gamesa.
Arafura will also participate in the development of the Minhub project, and a cooperation agreement to this effect has been signed with Minhub Operations. The next step is to conduct a feasibility study for Minhub by early 2024, with the aim of building it in parallel with Nolans, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2026.
Photo: iStock/SeventyFour
