Domestic deposits of rare earth elements are becoming more important. And now, there’s a race between publicly traded companies to be a first mover in discovering the next big supply source of rare earth elements in North America.
What’s happening:
- Rare earth elements are highly important for the global energy transition, which has led to an uptick in both new capital pursuing the opportunity and publicly traded North American companies beginning to make a push to find large domestic discoveries of rare earth elements
Why it matters:
- China is the largest supplier of rare earths and has the largest operational rare earth mine in the world, however they have also been significantly ramping up restrictions on the exportation of critical minerals such as gallium and antimony
Who is making moves:
- USA Rare Earth has announced they will go public on the Nasdaq through a SPAC transaction with Inflection Point Acquisition Group (NASDAQ: IPXX)
- American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR) was recently awarded $7.1M USD in grant funding from the Wyoming Energy Authority to advance their rare earth property located in Halleck Creek, Wyoming
- Tactical Resources (TSXV: RARE) also recently announced they will list on the Nasdaq through a SPAC transaction with Plum Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: PLMJ) to advance their rare earth property located near El Paso, Texas
- Energy Fuels (NYSE: UUUU) previously completed their first ever rare earth element separation circuit at their White Mesa Mill located in Utah, which enables them to fully separate rare earth elements from the mineral monazite
- Ucore Rare Metals (TSXV: UCU) recently announced a new partnership with ABx Group (ASX: ABX) in which ABx Group will supply Ucore Rare Metals with rare earth carbonate produced in Australia to be able to be run through their innovative separation process at their Canadian based demonstration scale facility which is currently being tested by the United States Department of Defense and the government of Canada
By the numbers:
- Approximately 70% of the global production of rare earth elements currently comes from China
Going deeper:
- The government of Canada also recently provided new funding for the Saskatchewan Research Council to process bastnaesite, which is a mineral that contains multiple rare earth elements needed for the production of magnets that are used in manufacturing electric vehicles
The intrigue:
- The importance of rare earth elements within Europe is also expanding, with Critical Metals (NASDAQ: CRML) just recently beginning drilling at their Tanbreez Project located in Southern Greenland
