Rare Earths

[finicky]

MEI: mc = $143m, SOI = 2.3 Billion, South America
RDM: mc = $40m, SOI = 360m, 20kms Mt Isa

MEI not Held
When have I been wrong? <- jk

 

[Sean K]

Old jungle saying.. rules, sell it goes to the moon, hold and it will fall into the abyss.....

I'm thinking this is a short term thing and not worth chasing. If not in beforehand, then likely to get burnt. Afterall, most of these REE stocks won't get to production and those that do it'll be in 10 years time, well past the Trump tariffs and blow-back. Unless it's the start of a fundamental shift in resource supply chains.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

I'm thinking this is a short term thing and not worth chasing. If not in beforehand, then likely to get burnt. Afterall, most of these REE stocks won't get to production and those that do it'll be in 10 years time, well past the Trump tariffs and blow-back. Unless it's the start of a fundamental shift in resource supply chains.

Funny that. I opened up ASF on "whats new" and clicked on your reply and as I did I was thinking the same thing as you. For some reason the paranoia gene also predominated, it is really a manoeuvre by the US to get as many RE on board the ship before it sails.

gg

 

[divs4ever]

I'm thinking this is a short term thing and not worth chasing. If not in beforehand, then likely to get burnt. Afterall, most of these REE stocks won't get to production and those that do it'll be in 10 years time, well past the Trump tariffs and blow-back. Unless it's the start of a fundamental shift in resource supply chains.

the major demand should ( in theory ) move to cheaper alternatives/substitutes , only the highest quality stuff will still demand the premium rare earths ( and other materials )

and IF that high quality demand is mostly for military applications .....

 

[finicky]

Afterall, most of these REE stocks won't get to production and those that do it'll be in 10 years time ..

AI Overview
Iluka Resources' Eneabba rare earths refinery is expected to begin production in 2026. The refinery is located in Western Australia and aims to extract and refine rare earth minerals from monazite and xenotime deposits. Commissioning is currently scheduled for 2026.

 

[Sean K]

AI Overview
Iluka Resources' Eneabba rare earths refinery is expected to begin production in 2026. The refinery is located in Western Australia and aims to extract and refine rare earth minerals from monazite and xenotime deposits. Commissioning is currently scheduled for 2026.

I tried to ask AI how long it's taken for Eneabba REE to get into production from exploration/discovery but it couldn't tell me exactly. Looks like it was a mineral sands project in the 70s and the REE bit started in the 90s? So, 15 years maybe.

 

[finicky]

Looks like it was a mineral sands project in the 70s and the REE bit started in the 90s?

I thought it was much later than the 90's - maybe it was concepfual back then? They realized at some point that they had stockpiled a lot of RE as low grade mineral sands reject - or maybe it was dry tailings? Could be wrong which is why the question marks. But my understanding is they have a very large RE stockpile incidentally derived from the mining and processing of mineral sands, so the mining costs have been done. That's not counting the RE from Northern Minerals. Just my sketchy recall. I've thought for a long time ILU would be the safest way for a non trader to get exposure to RE as it's a producer of mineral sands with demonstrated competence and can draw funding.

Edit
From the website:

"A globally significant rare earths producer
The rare earth bearing mineral monazite is a co-product of Iluka’s mineral sands. Since the 1990’s Iluka has strategically stockpiled the monazite produced at its Narngulu Mineral Separation Plant, at its operations at Eneabba, Western Australia. Iluka commissioned a concentrator plant at Eneabba to further process the stockpiled material. This will separate the monazite (and additional zircon), producing a ~90% monazite concentrate material that will provide a direct feed to Iluka’s rare earths refinery.
In April 2022, the Iluka Board approved the Final Investment Decision for a fully integrated rare earths refinery at Eneabba."

 

[finicky]

Again, from Iluka's website. If you can stand the 60 minutes style: "This is literally ground zero in the global arms race" ffs

 

[bk1]

Dig up as much as you want, it doesn't matter.

Who is going to process and refine it?
Who has the technical experience in separating light medium and heavy Rare Earths?
It's not a given that progress will be linear, I'm thinking of IGO and the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide plant when i say this.
It could take years to make any impression on China's domination of refining.

 

[divs4ever]

Dig up as much as you want, it doesn't matter.

Who is going to process and refine it?
Who has the technical experience in separating light medium and heavy Rare Earths?
It's not a given that progress will be linear, I'm thinking of IGO and the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide plant when i say this.
It could take years to make any impression on China's domination of refining.

WES believed they could when they made a tilt at LYC

LYC built that processing plant in Malaysia for a reason , so for Dim ( and bought ) Beazley ( now firmly sponsored by the MIC ) coming out and expecting Australian taxpayers to fund this ( and not the future fund ) is a little disingenuous

The Honourable Kim Beazley AC - Government House Western Australia

2018 – 2022 The Honourable Kim Beazley AC was installed as Governor on the 1st May 2018 as the 33rd...

govhouse.wa.gov.au

this was the Defense Minister that opined that Australia wasn't in a ( little ) war so he could see all those war toys in action and what they could do

considering how many low-income earners would be sucked into a 'little war ' ( like say Vietnam , which was only a 'police action ' back then ) yeah vote ALP , and get what you deserve

 

[waterbottle]

Ahhhh the rare earths hype.
The current hype reminds me of the COVID hype when everyone and their grandmother was trying to dig up the stuff.
The hype then was that rare earths were particularly important for the EV transition as they played a critical role in the manufacturing of EV motors.

Of course, that never materialised and rare earths crashed.

Now we're running on hype that China is out of the game? And rare earths are important for chips? Maybe. But Trump has also got a lust for Ukrainian minerals, so don't know why any US or Aus supplier would be replacing China any time soon. Besides, Trump's policies change daily, so not really the safest speccy play - it'd be very easy to see him making concessions for China in exchange for rare earth supply.

 

[divs4ever]

Ahhhh the rare earths hype.
The current hype reminds me of the COVID hype when everyone and their grandmother was trying to dig up the stuff.
The hype then was that rare earths were particularly important for the EV transition as they played a critical role in the manufacturing of EV motors.

Of course, that never materialised and rare earths crashed.
View attachment 197822
Now we're running on hype that China is out of the game? And rare earths are important for chips? Maybe. But Trump has also got a lust for Ukrainian minerals, so don't know why any US or Aus supplier would be replacing China any time soon. Besides, Trump's policies change daily, so not really the safest speccy play - it'd be very easy to see him making concessions for China in exchange for rare earth supply.

extracting these minerals in one thing , almost anyone can do that ( but probably not profitability )

it is the processing that causes all the ( environmental ) issues ( or is it Government compulsion to meddle )

until you build processing plants in places that don't care about environmental impacts all you have is big piles of sand ( like ILU has )

relatively few plants ( outside of China ) means excessive costs and long delays until orders are filled ... now Trump MIGHT have worked out Ukraine will be so freaking desperate most safety guidelines will be ignored , so building processing plants will be no issue , they still have a nuclear power plant for electricity .. and there are some minerals there ( and scrap military hardware to recycle )

 

[waterbottle]

extracting these minerals in one thing , almost anyone can do that ( but probably not profitability )

it is the processing that causes all the ( environmental ) issues ( or is it Government compulsion to meddle )

until you build processing plants in places that don't care about environmental impacts all you have is big piles of sand ( like ILU has )

relatively few plants ( outside of China ) means excessive costs and long delays until orders are filled ... now Trump MIGHT have worked out Ukraine will be so freaking desperate most safety guidelines will be ignored , so building processing plants will be no issue , they still have a nuclear power plant for electricity .. and there are some minerals there ( and scrap military hardware to recycle )

You sir must be a true connoisseur of rare earths

Yes, the earths aren't particularly rare. It's the processing and environmental destruction that is more important.
China dgaf and are natural leaders.

 

[divs4ever]

You sir must be a true connoisseur of rare earths

Yes, the earths aren't particularly rare. It's the processing and environmental destruction that is more important.
China dgaf and are natural leaders.

more about logistics and ( human ) nature , one would assume Africa has plenty of rare earths , not so much power infrastructure but now there a miniature power plants .. and local uranium , Africa would have been the logical hub IF it were easy ( Australia would have been doing it also )

i did watch forums with threads on LYC and understood why the processing plant ended up in Malaysia ( not Australia or China )

however one thing that could be asked is how many other mineral sand miners ( chasing rutile and such ) have similar access to REE as a by-product of their main activity

not so much fun if you need to crush rocks to get your REE but then than would depend on the commodity prices ( one might think gold miners working on alluvial deposits might have some REEs in their tailings as well )

 

[waterbottle]

more about logistics and ( human ) nature , one would assume Africa has plenty of rare earths , not so much power infrastructure but now there a miniature power plants .. and local uranium , Africa would have been the logical hub IF it were easy ( Australia would have been doing it also )

i did watch forums with threads on LYC and understood why the processing plant ended up in Malaysia ( not Australia or China )

however one thing that could be asked is how many other mineral sand miners ( chasing rutile and such ) have similar access to REE as a by-product of their main activity

not so much fun if you need to crush rocks to get your REE but then than would depend on the commodity prices ( one might think gold miners working on alluvial deposits might have some REEs in their tailings as well )

True RE: by products, but I don't think that'd be economical.

Refinement processes can be improved though, and it has been the goal of many speccy miners e.g. VML (RIP)

 

[divs4ever]

True RE: by products, but I don't think that'd be economical.

Refinement processes can be improved though, and it has been the goal of many speccy miners e.g. VML (RIP)

well ILU ( for example ) has some plant already there separating the rutile ( and infrastructure ) and that mine is nowhere near central Perth ( or even Kalgoorlie ) , so popping out ingots ( before shipping ) would have to be more feasible than most ... but they just waited and waited

but time will tell

 

[waterbottle]

well ILU ( for example ) has some plant already there separating the rutile ( and infrastructure ) and that mine is nowhere near central Perth ( or even Kalgoorlie ) , so popping out ingots ( before shipping ) would have to be more feasible than most ... but they just waited and waited

but time will tell

Ingots of rare earth? Seems like the same play as VML. They mined feedstock (due to weather limitations) and then delayed processing to their detriment.

 

[divs4ever]

Ingots of rare earth? Seems like the same play as VML. They mined feedstock (due to weather limitations) and then delayed processing to their detriment.

well the concentrated mineral looks like a bar/ingot or at least a cake ( of crystals ) that should be comparatively efficient to transport .

maybe even put 50kg in the truck cab when transporting each load of zircon or rutile

it what make a trillion in a hurry but extra income would be useful ( and relatively steady

 

[rcw1]

Dig up as much as you want, it doesn't matter.

Who is going to process and refine it?
Who has the technical experience in separating light medium and heavy Rare Earths?
It's not a given that progress will be linear, I'm thinking of IGO and the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide plant when i say this.
It could take years to make any impression on China's domination of refining.

LYC

kind regards
rcw1

 

[rcw1]

extracting these minerals in one thing , almost anyone can do that (

but probably not profitability )

It can be done

it is the processing that causes all the ( environmental ) issues

( or is it Government compulsion to meddle

Refining has a radioactive byproduct, was the main Malaysian issue with LYC

until you build processing plants in places that don't care about environmental impacts all you have is big piles of sand ( like ILU has )

Also need to process the technological know how to refine particularly heavy REE. China don’t like sharing this.

relatively few plants ( outside of China ) means excessive costs and long delays until orders are filled .

China controls the market price … another international hurdle
A cash cow fir them

.. now Trump MIGHT have worked out Ukraine will be so freaking desperate most safety guidelines will be ignored , so building processing plants will be no issue , they still have a nuclear power plant for electricity .. and there are some minerals there ( and scrap military hardware to recycle )

Dunno but where will the Ukraine ore get processed / refined?


Kind regards
rcw1