Nolans

Nolans is a rare-earths project located in the Northern Territory of Australia, about 135 km north of Alice Springs. The facility is owned and operated by Arafura Rare Earths, an Australian mining company focused on developing critical minerals resources. Nolans is designed to produce neodymium and praseodymium, two rare-earth elements essential for manufacturing permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other renewable-energy technologies. The project encompasses both mining operations and an integrated processing plant that will extract and refine rare-earth oxides from the orebody. Nolans is considered strategically significant as one of the few rare-earths projects outside China capable of producing separated rare-earth products at scale. The development has attracted financing support from export credit agencies and government-backed institutions in Australia and Germany, reflecting its importance to secure supply chains for critical minerals. The project aims to position Australia as a key supplier of rare earths to global markets, particularly for the renewable-energy and electric-vehicle sectors. Arafura has been advancing Nolans through feasibility studies, environmental approvals and financing arrangements, with construction and commissioning activities progressing towards commercial production.