Rare Earths Stocks: 5 Biggest ASX Companies in 2024

Market cap: AU$5.7 billion; share price: AU$6.05

Lynas Rare Earths is Australia's largest rare earths miner, as well as the only significant rare earth materials producer in the world outside of China. Focused on integrated delivery, Lynas is a miner and supplier of high-grade rare earths. According to the company, its Mount Weld asset in Western Australia is one of the highest-grade rare earths mines in the world.

During this year's March quarter, Lynas reported neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) production of 1,724 tonnes. Its total rare earth oxide production reached 3,545 tonnes during the same period.

In June, the company announced that its Lynas Malaysia facility is on track to commence first production of two separated heavy rare earths products, dysprosium and terbium, in 2025.

Market cap: AU$2.73 billion; share price: AU$6.16

Iluka Resources has decades of experience in the mining industry, mostly in the production of zircon and high-grade titanium dioxide-derived rutile and synthetic rutile. However, in recent years, it has developed a rare earths portfolio.

At its Eneabba operation in Western Australia, Iluka has a strategic monazite-rich mineral stockpile that it plans to process. The company is currently working on a feasibility study for a fully integrated rare earths refinery at Eneabba, which would produce separated rare earth oxides from its own feedstock and potentially from third-party feedstock as well. Construction will start once earthworks have been completed, with first production at the refinery expected in 2025.

Iluka’s Wimmera project in Victoria, Australia, also has the potential to be a long-term supplier of zircon and rare earths. Following a preliminary feasibility study conducted at Wimmera, the company's board approved AU$30 million in funding for a definitive feasibility study. Iluka expects to complete the study in the first half of 2025.

Market cap: AU$710.03 million; share price: AU$2.85

Brazilian Rare Earths is advancing its district-scale Rocha da Rocha rare earth province in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

The company's 1,410 square kilometres of mining claims are highly prospective for both heavy and light rare earths, with grades of over 40 percent total rare earth oxides (TREO) found. The company’s exploration campaigns have identified three styles of rare earths mineralisation across the project area, including source rock for high-grade niobium and scandium, shallow high-grade monazite sand and ionic clay rare earths mineralisation.

Brazilian Rare Earths’ current resource estimate for Rocha da Rocha stands at 510 million tonnes at 1,513 parts per million TREO. This includes the high-grade Monte Alto project with a monazite sand rare earths resource of 25.2 million tonnes at 1 percent TREO; it has a higher-grade shallow, free-dig resource core of 4.1 million tonnes at 3.2 percent TREO.

The company is working toward completing an updated resource estimate for the district this year.

Market cap: AU$427.41 million; share price: AU$0.19

Arafura Rare Earths is advancing its Nolans NdPr project in Australia's Northern Territory, and is currently in the midst of construction. Arafura has plans for Nolans to be a vertically integrated NdPr operation with processing facilities on site. According to the company, the Nolans project will supply around 4 percent of global NdPr oxide demand once complete, with an annual production capacity of 4,400 tonnes of NdPr concentrate.

The company has signed several offtake agreements, including one with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy that commences in 2026. The deal guarantees a five year contract under which Arafura will supply Siemens Gamesa with NdPr from Nolans. The supply deal will kick off at 200 tonnes for the first year, before increasing over time as the project reaches nameplate production. According to Arafura's latest quarterly report, the Nolans project is shovel ready, with construction set to commence once funding is secured and a final investment decision is made.

Market cap: AU$200.97 million; current share price: AU$0.031

Northern Minerals is focused on developing its Browns Range dysprosium-terbium project in Western Australia and bringing the project's Wolverine deposit into production.

Northern Minerals has a long-term rare earths concentrate supply agreement with Iluka Resources.

Northern Minerals is developing Browns Range through a three stage system, and the project has been producing heavy rare earth carbonate since 2018. The company is now working on a definitive feasibility study for a commercial-scale mining operation and beneficiation plant at Browns Range that will respectively extract and process ore from Wolverine.

Northern Minerals is on track to complete a definitive feasibility study in 2024's December quarter, with a final investment decision expected in the following quarter. The company is targeting first production in Q4 2027.