Arafura Rare Earths will annually sell 850 tonnes of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide from its developing Nolans project to Traxys North America for five years, on a market-competitive basis, under a binding offtake deal.
The two companies can extend their offtake deal by up to four years, Arafura told investors on 12 October. They will price the deal using an independent seaborne price index, Arafura added.
Traxys is involved with Project Vault, the US Government’s $12 billion (A$17 billion) critical mineral strategic reserve initiative. In February, the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) selected Traxys to manage Project Vault’s raw critical mineral procurement workstream, the trading house said at the time.
The US Government created Project Vault to reduce US dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains and support American critical mineral producers and refiners, according to EXIM.
The Australian, US, Canadian, South Korean, and German Governments have financially backed Arafura’s Nolans project in recent years. The Northern Territory (NT) Government, in June, also selected Nolans as the first individual development to be fast-tracked under its Territorial Coordinator scheme.
NT’s Territorial Coordinator can set decision deadlines for planning agencies, modify how legislation is applied to specific projects, and direct planners to consider specific issues when evaluating development applications.
Arafura’s deal with Traxys comes just days after it broke ground on Nolans. The company expects to build the mine and processing plant over the next three years, Arafura Managing Director Darryl Cuzzubbo said on 8 October.
“[The mine] will be built in the same way we’ve built our partnerships with Traditional Owners, lenders, customers and other stakeholders - with integrity and respect at the core,” Cuzzubbo added. Arafura plans to support local and indigenous communities through training schemes and procurement targets.
By Avinash Govind