Latest Rare Earths News

ACDC Metals has joined a U.S.-backed defence consortium, giving its Goschen Central rare earths project a route into government solicitations, research partnerships and potential offtake discussions. The membership is strategically significant, but it is not a funding award or contract.

Lindian Resources says its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi has stockpiled about 125,000 tonnes of ore ahead of schedule as construction shifts toward commissioning and first monazite concentrate targeted by year-end. The company also lifted the annual base salaries of its two senior executives to A$1 million each.

Critica Limited (ASX:CRI) has delivered stronger technical results across its Jupiter rare earths and Mt Lindsay tin-tungsten projects, but the developer remains dependent on further funding. Two scoping studies targeted for Q3 2026 now carry the burden of translating resource potential and laboratory results into project economics.

Gold Mountain has extended reconnaissance rare earth mineralisation at its Down Under Project in Brazil to at least 13 kilometres west of the Irajuba Exploration Target. The strongest result was 10 metres at 2,145 ppm TREO, including 2 metres at 4,607 ppm, but the data remains preliminary and metallurgical recovery is still untested.

Connected Minerals has made Angola’s Bailundo niobium and rare earths project its flagship after writing off A$3.40 million in Namibian and Western Australian exploration assets. The pivot is now backed by a completed A$4.5 million placement and a planned 6,000-metre drilling campaign, but Bailundo remains an exploration-stage project without a declared resource.

Mount Ridley Mines has reported broad, shallow scandium intersections extending up to 8km beyond the Grass Patch Project’s current Block 1 and Block 2 resource boundaries. The results could support a larger JORC resource, but the company has yet to convert the exploration footprint into an updated estimate.

Orbit Resources enters FY2027 with a 17.52Mt Lewis Ponds resource, a preliminary study pointing to a A$481 million pre-tax NPV and a new polymetallic sulphide discovery outside the existing resource. The gains come with familiar junior-miner constraints: a A$3.49 million annual loss, A$3.69 million in cash and further funding still required.

West Cobar Metals has engaged Wallis Drilling for its first scandium-focused campaign at the Salazar project, with work targeted for October subject to approvals. The programme will test shallow saprolite for higher-grade scandium zones and extensions to existing rare earth and titanium dioxide resources.

Astron Limited (ASX:ATR) says its Donald rare earths and mineral sands project is construction-ready, with a $759 million Phase 1 pre-tax NPV and first production targeted for 2028. The unresolved question is whether debt financing can convert the project’s strong study economics into a final investment decision.

Eminence Minerals has begun field exploration across three pending licence applications at its Tayra rare earth project in Bahia, Brazil, while continuing a planned 70-hole auger campaign at Campo Grande. The work remains early-stage, with no Mineral Resource defined and Tayra’s tenure still awaiting confirmation from Brazil’s mining regulator.

Enova Mining has increased its unbrokered placement to $2 million after securing an additional $500,000 in binding commitments. The expanded raising will fund exploration and project work, but most of the 2 billion new shares still requires shareholder approval.

Critica has produced high-purity mixed rare earth oxide and iron concentrate samples from its Jupiter project, giving potential counterparties physical products to evaluate. The milestone follows flowsheet improvements including stronger recovery, higher concentrate grades and lower sulphuric acid consumption, but commercial specifications and project economics remain unresolved.