RAINBOW Rare Earths said on Thursday it aimed to publish a prefeasibility study (PFS) of its Phalaborwa rare earths project in South Africa in the fourth quarter, following a provisional agreement with Canadian industrial materials firm Neo Performance Materials (Neo).
The agreement, a memorandum of understanding, provides for Rainbow to supply refined neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) along with unrefined heavy rare earths, known collectively as SEG+, to Neo’s facilities in Estonia. The SEG+ elements require complex chemical separation.
In return for access to the processing facilities, Rainbow has undertaken to supply Neo with 40% of its NdPr oxide production and 65% of its annual mixed SEG+ heavy rare earth carbonate production. Finding a processing solution for the SEG+ elements, which include samarium, europium and gadolinium, is an important precursor to the PFS.
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) is set to follow in the first half of next year. The DFS was originally planned for 2025, but despite the delay Rainbow is sticking to first commercial production from Phalaborwa in 2028.
“We are delighted that Neo has agreed to partner with us. Its deep understanding and experience in rare earth separation and magnet materials is invaluable,” said George Bennett, CEO of Rainbow.
The Phalaborwa project, in Limpopo province, was last estimated to carry a capital cost of $326m. Even if, as seems likely, the cost has since risen, Rainbow should have several options for attracting funding.
Rare earths are critical to the permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, fighter jets, wind turbines and mobile phones. China dominates the global supply chain from mining through to magnet production, while a lack of funding has long held back western rivals.
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the US government has announced $18.6bn in committed and uncommitted funding for the critical minerals sector, most of it directed at rare earths, according to BMO analysts.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed about $50m of its total $62.8m in African rare earths investments to Phalaborwa, with the balance going to projects in Malawi, Angola and Madagascar, according to a Reuters report in August.
