Dreadnought Resources (DRE) has “second mover advantage” when it comes to its rare earths exploration work in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, building upon its 14 million tonne resource.
Managing Director Dean Tuck said the company had been able to de-risk the Yin project prior to drilling.
The project is focussed on neodymium and praseodymium, which are key ingredients in permanent magnets, used in wind turbines, electric vehicle motors and other applications.
“We can produce a high value concentrate with numerous parties already interested in that product,” Mr Tuck said.
“We had second-mover advantage and the market responded so favourably to us because Hastings Technology Metals had already shown that they can produce a sellable concentrate in the region.
“We have been able to piggyback on the metallurgical research that existed.
“Before we drilled anything at Yin, we had metallurgy done to prove that we could also produce a sellable concentrate.”
The company also has an early-stage heavy rare earth project called Bresnahan, 350 kilometre northeast of Yin targeting dysprosium and terbium.
Mr Tuck said Australia only had exposure to the first three value stages of rare earths and much of that was still in the planning stages.
“Australia has the mines, the next stage mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) processing is happening soon and we’re moving towards producing oxide,” he said.
“But Australia is completely out of the picture as far as producing metal, alloys and magnets. It’s all made in China.
“This is where the western world needs to move quickly to secure our supply chain.”