Victory Metals has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sumitomo Corporation to establish a potential long-term offtake partnership for its North Stanmore heavy rare earth elements (HREE) project in Western Australia.
The MoU provides a framework in which Victory Metals and Sumitomo will negotiate an offtake for mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) from North Stanmore, which is currently Australia’s largest indicated and inferred HREE clay resource, totalling 235 million tonnes.
The aim is for Victory to provide 30 per cent of its annual MREC production from North Stanmore to Sumitomo, facilitating an independent and resilient rare earths supply chain outside of China, which currently dominates the global rare earths sector.
“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Sumitomo Corporation, a globally recognised powerhouse with extensive industry expertise and a proven track record of securing critical mineral supplies,” Victory chief executive officer and executive director Brendan Clark said.
“This agreement reflects the strategic value of the North Stanmore project and confirms the global significance of our unique heavy rare earth element composition within the North Stanmore clay deposit.”
The MoU signage follows six months of discussions between Victory and Sumitomo. The agreement is for an initial five-year offtake term, with an option to extend for another five years.
Victory and Sumitomo are expected to negotiate and enter into a binding term sheet by October 31 2025.
Victory said the pricing of supplied product will be determined during the binding term sheet’s negotiation, indexed to the prevailing MREC market prices and adjusted for total rare earth oxides (TREO) content.
“The agreed terms enable Victory to accelerate project development, enhance financing options, and expand future processing capabilities,” Clark said.
“This partnership opens exciting new opportunities for Victory to integrate into the global rare earth supply chain and secure our place as a leading supplier in the energy transition and defence sectors.”
The MoU demonstrates Sumitomo’s confidence in the quality and scalability of North Stanmore.
“We plan to utilise our global network to sell the rare earths produced by Victory. We look forward to future partnerships,” Sumitomo said.
Sumitomo also has a strategic alliance with Tivan to accelerate growth at the Speewah fluorite project in WA.
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