Flush with over US$1B in debt funding for its flagship, Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU) has announced an update to its gas supply agreement with a second party.
That second party, the Mereenie JV, consists of four Australian based energy smallcaps set to provide 16.44 petajoules of gas to Nolans over the life of the prospective project.
The company is set to receive 5.49PJ in 2028 – when production is expected to commence at the project, backed by everyone from Gina Rinehart to Canberra in a bid to shore up a domestic REE supply and processing capacity.
Despite a mountain of cash (debt funding,) the project remains to be seen coming into its full advertised capacity.
“Mereenie is the largest producing onshore gas field in the Northern Territory. Central Petroleum is the Mereenie field operator and holds a 25% participating interest,” Arafura wrote on Monday.
“Cue Energy Resources has a 7.5% participating interest; Horizon Oil Limited has a 25% participating interest; and New Zealand Oil & Gas has a 42.5% participating interest.”
ARU last traded at 17cps.