Home / Investing / Five rare earths elements companies in high demand

A major trend has been securing rare earth supplies outside of China. That's good news for Australia.

Analysts are showing optimism for the rare earths market in 2022, with asset manager Datt Capital increasing its allocation to rare earth elements companies.

Rare earth elements are key metals for high-tech applications, including permanent magnets, which have widespread potential, especially in the technology and electric vehicle sectors. A major trend this year has been securing rare earth supplies from sources outside of China. That’s good news for rare earths companies in Australia.

Emanuel Datt, principal and chief investment officer of Datt Capital (pictured), points at recent events relating to growing tensions between China and Taiwan as the main reason to increasing allocations to rare earths elements.

“Should the Taiwan situation worsen and/or should China use force to control Taiwan it’s likely there will be sanctions on goods sold to China and restrictions of the supply of strategic materials exported by China.

“China produces around 80 per cent of the REE (rare earth elements) globally and given their critical nature in the production of a wide range of modern technologies a logical first step would be China restricting this supply to the rest of the world in which it is in disagreement,” he added.

According to the Australian government’s Geoscience Australia, “The growing strategic importance of REE and scandium was reflected in their inclusion in the US Government’s 2018 list of 35 critical minerals. This list was an initial step toward ensuring reliable and secure supplies of minerals critical to the US economy and military.”

Datt lists five companies that provide Australian investors access to this space:

1. Lynas Rare Earths Ltd – Australia’s leading rare earth producer. “It is an integrated producer with downstream processing facilities located in Malaysia and upstream operations in Western Australia,” Datt said. Its customers are primarily Japanese.
2. Iluka Resources Limited – An established mineral sands business which is producing rare earths from its mineral sands stockpiles at Eneabba in Western Australia, and is building a rare earths refinery there. It expects production to commence from early 2025.
3. Hasting Technology Metals Ltd – A rare earth developer in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Lower grade compared to Lynas and expects to commence production in late 2024.
4. Dreadnought Resources Ltd – A rare earth explorer in the Gascoyne region of WA. “The company still has considerable exposure to exploration risk, being at an earlier stage than the prior companies mentioned,” Datt said.
5. Lanthanein Resources Ltd – A rare earth explorer in the Gascoyne region. Lanthanein has superior heavy rare earth ratio but is the most speculative exposure of the cohort.