Australian Mining spotlights two ASX-listed companies working to overcome China’s dominance in the global rare earths market.
China has long been the world’s largest producer of rare earths.
It has held that position with strategic investments and government policies, as well as low-cost labour, less stringent environmental standards, and export controls – the latter of which is becoming increasingly prominent.
In April, China added seven rare earths – samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium – to its export control list in response to US tariffs. Other commodities on the list include tungsten, lithium and gallium.
The export control list refers to a list of goods, technologies and other items that are subject to China’s export restrictions in place to safeguard the country’s national security and military presence.
The list is part of China’s broader export control system, which includes regulations for dual-use items that came into effect in December 2024, and specific controls for military products, nuclear products, and other sensitive technologies.
With demand for rare earths projected to double by 2050, several mines are looking to get off the ground and build resilient and independent ex-China supply chains.
Australian Mining shines a light on two ASX-listed rare-earths companies looking to make a splash.
Victory Metals
Located approximately 6km north of Cue in Western Australia, Victory Metals’ North Stanmore heavy rare earths project is one of the world’s most advanced clay-hosted projects.
“Other rare earths projects in Australia typically comprise hard rock or mineral sands,” Victory chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director Brendan Clark told Australian Mining.
“These projects require a lot of capital because the processing phase is complex and resource-intensive.
“With North Stanmore, mother nature has done all the hard work for us, dating back around 45 million years ago. The clay-hosted mineralisation system has broken down naturally over time, providing easier access to valuable rare earth elements.”
North Stanmore bypasses traditional mining stages and instead uses a low-cost leaching technique requiring no additional processing stages.
“We’ve got high ratios of heavy rare earths, which are in high demand and provide strength to the magnets used in renewable batteries,” Clark said.
“Most of these rare earths come from clay-hosted projects in China, making our North Stanmore project an important diversifier globally.”
North Stanmore is near existing infrastructure, further saving costs.
“The Great Northern highway is the major arterial road connecting the Pilbara region to the Ports of Fremantle and Geraldton,” Clark said.
“We’re also located near a regional airport, enabling us to gain easy access to a fly-in, fly-out workforce. If we didn’t have this, we would have to build our own runway along with major haul roads.”
It’s one thing to mine rare earths, but the ability to process the mineral is a different ball game.
Australian rare-earth products typically reach mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) or mixed rare earth oxide (MREO) stages, the latter of which is the most advanced.
“The material then needs to be separated into individual rare earth elements,” Clark said. “This is where China is leading the way.
“Victory wants to provide a non-Chinese source of rare earths across the supply chain. We’re looking to do that through separation options in France, Japan and the US.
“My long-term vision is to create our own dysprosium and terbium product in WA. I believe it’s possible.”
Victory signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japanese giant Sumitomo Corporation in December 2024 that could form the basis of a long-term offtake partnership for North Stanmore.
The aim is for Victory to provide 30 per cent of its annual MREC production from North Stanmore to Sumitomo.
“Our next phase with Sumitomo is to enter into a binding offtake agreement … and use that opportunity to fund North Stanmore and provide a pathway to development,” Clark said.
With China accounting for 70 per cent of global rare earth ore extraction and 90 per cent of rare earth ore processing, Clark believes the time is right for Australia to rise to the occasion.
“Australia needs to advance its technical downstream processing expertise so in 10 to 15 years we won’t be relying on anyone,” Clark said. “But this isn’t going to happen overnight.
“We need to partner with the likes of France, Japan and US in the meanwhile, who are pouring investment into downstream processing.
“At the moment, we need to understand our strengths, and that is mining and we are very good at it, produce a product and let them do the rest.”
Enova Mining
Recent years have seen Enova Mining unlock several critical minerals discoveries in the Minas Gerais and Sāo Paulo regions of Brazil.
The company is led by CEO and executive director Eric Vesel, a qualified mining engineer with almost 40 years of experience.
“Our team brings a unique combination of multi-disciplinary experience and capabilities necessary to take exploration properties to production,” Vesel told Australian Mining.
“Our small but exceptional team of professionals understand both the technical and commercial aspects of mining and the rare earths sector.
“This includes downstream knowledge such as what products can be produced, and what is required to achieve it.”
Enova owns around 80,000 hectares of prospective tenements in Minas Gerais, including the Coda rare earths project.
Described as “world-class”, Coda comprises 15,000 hectares and is situated near power sources and infrastructure.
“Our 2024 maiden drilling program (at Coda) intersected thick horizons of saprolite-hosted mineralisation over an area exceeding 40km², with elevated grades of titanium, rare earths, niobium and scandium,” Vesel said.
“Metallurgical test work is currently underway (and) results will determine the most economic development pathway.”
Enova’s most recent discovery in Minas Gerais is the East Salinas project, which has exceeded the company’s expectations in terms of scale and simplicity, sitting at 22,719 hectares.
“The project originated from hyperspectral targeting lithium pegmatites,” Vesel said.
“Field reconnaissance revealed granitic outcrops with grades of 1.33 per cent to 1.87 per cent TREO (total rare earth oxide) across the Bald Hill and Naked Hill targets. A third hill nearby returned 1.59 per cent TREO. In total, the system could strike 4km and be 600m wide.
“The mineralisation is characterised by NdPr (neodymium and praseodymium) up to 38.8 per cent, HREO (heavy rare earths elements) of more than nine per cent, and high ytterbium content.”
Amid global trading instability, East Salinas and Coda offer immediate opportunities in building a non-Chinese rare-earths supply chain.
“While early stage, the simplicity of East Salinas’ mineralogy and potential for gravity separation could allow us to move quickly into concentrate production,” Vesel said.
“Coda also offers a potential pathway. Metallurgical studies are focused on beneficiation and leaching, which may yield a mixed carbonate or oxide product suitable for sale.”
Enova chairman and non-executive director Dato’ Sia Hok Kiang is also the managing director of Malaco Mining Sdn Bhd, providing Enova with downstream refining access.
“In November 2024, Malaco Mining built a pilot rare-earth separation plant in Perak, Malaysia, to process rare earth carbonates and oxides to high-value product groups,” Vesel said.
“Malaco recently signed an MoU with POSCO of Korea and Carester of France for downstream rare earths processing in Perak. The company’s separation facilities and modular IAC (ionic absorption clay) extraction technology is unique with several worldwide patents. Enova is in the box seat to use this technology.”
Vesel said the biggest challenge countries are facing in building critical minerals supply chains is a limited understanding in the factors needed to reach production, including commercialisation and technical capability.
“Outside China, very few companies can separate rare earths to high purity,” he said. “Even those that do often send their material back to China for final processing.
“China has suppressed global prices to maintain control of the market, but these prices aren’t reflective of what end-users pay at volume. The only way to break this dependence is to build the full supply chain from mining through to separation.”
And this is where Victory and Enova are well-placed.
With access to rare-earth separation technology and infrastructure independent of China, the companies are each in a in good position to drive innovation and achieve greater supply chain control.
This feature will appear in the September 2025 issue of Australian Mining.
