Arafura going global with rare earths

Arafura Rare Earths will work with the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) to establish a diversified supply chain for rare earths products.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two will see the toll processing of samarium-europium-gadolinium/heavy rare earths (SEG/HRE) products from Arafura’s Nolans project take place at SRC’s rare earth processing facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. This will create dysprosium and terbium oxide – an essential product for the high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles.

The 573 tonnes of SEG/HRE to be produced from Nolans annually is set to contain 25 tonnes of dysprosium oxide and eight tonnes of terbium oxide.

Arafura said while it remained focused on marketing its primary rare earths product, neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), the MoU with SRC will enable the company to market a “complete range of rare earth products”.

“This MoU has established an exciting Australia–Canada partnership,” Arafura managing director and chief executive officer Darryl Cuzzubbo said.

“Heavy rare earths are vital for high-performance rare-earth magnets, and by collaborating, we will be geared to stay ahead of the global demand curve as the world transitions to a lower-carbon future.”

Arafura believes the MoU “adds further merit” to Nolans becoming a downstream processing hub for heavy rare earths third-party feed.

The company recently completed a preliminary study exploring a phase two expansion of the processing facility at Nolans, with potential to expand the size of the processing facility by up to a further 150 per cent. This study also explored the potential of processing third-party product, with Nolans initially billed as a processing facility for Arafura alone.

“This would enable Arafura to operate a leading rare earths processing facility in Australia, underpinning a diversification of the global supply chain,” the company said.

With nearly 350 employees, SRC is Canada’s second-largest research and technology organisation with 1400 clients in 22 countries. The company has been supporting clients solve technology problems, increase productivity and develop new markets for over 77 years.