Name of the Project
Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project.

Location
Limpopo, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
London-listed rare earths developer Rainbow Rare Earths holds an 85% interest in the project, with Bosveld Phosphates holding 15%. 

Rainbow’s June 2023 agreement with Bosveld provided a route to full ownership. The option to acquire Bosveld’s 15% interest is exercisable until June 30, 2027, through the issue of 38 873 663 Rainbow shares. Bosveld has a right to sell on the same terms, subject to completion of the transfer of the project assets into the joint venture vehicle.

Project Description
The near-term rare earths development project is based on the recovery of rare-earth elements (REEs) from phosphogypsum stacks generated from historic phosphate hard-rock mining by Foskor, which then sold a concentrated phosphate slurry to Sasol (the last major operator of the site), which, in turn, fed a phosphoric-acid production facility. Phosphoric acid is a key ingredient required for the manufacture and/or production of fertiliser. The project has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource estimate of 35-million tonnes at 0.44% total rare-earth oxides (TREO), contained in two unconsolidated phosphogypsum stacks.

The project is being developed as a chemical processing operation on a brownfields chemical site without any mining. Rainbow has said the resource is already at surface and is in a chemically cracked form, which eliminates the need for hard-rock mining, crushing, milling, flotation and cracking – all characteristics of a hard-rock rare earths mining project. This is expected to give Phalaborwa a lower operating-cost profile and a much lower capital intensity than those of traditional rare earths mining projects.

The December 2024 interim economic study proposed a 16-year project life, processing an average of 2.2-million tonnes of phosphogypsum a year, with an overall recovery rate of about 65%. The current product plan envisages about 1 850 t/y of separated neodymium/praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, with about 60 t/y of dysprosium, 20 t/y of terbium and 140 t/y of yttrium, expressed on an oxide basis, within a samarium, europium and gadolinium-plus (SEG+) mixed rare-earth carbonate.

Rainbow’s process flowsheet provides for mechanical reclamation of the gypsum, followed by hydrometallurgical processing to recover the rare earths and deliver a high-grade feed stream for solvent extraction (SX) separation. The planned products are separated NdPr oxide at more than 99% purity and a mixed SEG+ rare-earth carbonate for further separation. 

The flowsheet has been simplified through optimisation work, including reducing the leach process from three stages to two, residence time from 32 hours to eight hours and leach-heating requirements. Rainbow has also incorporated a purification process combining continuous ion-exchange and precipitation steps, as well as cerium depletion, to produce a high-grade feed stream for separation. 

Phalaborwa is also expected to have environmental benefits, as the project will serve to clean up a legacy environmental issue of acid water associated with the historic unlined gypsum stacks. Rainbow will use this water source in the closed-circuit process plant, which is also expected to minimise the need to draw on an external water source for the processing plant. The clean gypsum by-product will be deposited on newly lined stacks designed to International Finance Corporation and Equator Principles standards, with the plan to be sold into agricultural and industrial markets over time.

Potential Job Creation
Not disclosed in the interim study.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The December 2024 interim economic study estimated an after-tax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $610.9-million, an after-tax internal rate of return of 38% and a payback period of two years. 

Capital Expenditure
The December 2024 interim study estimated upfront capital costs at $326.1-million. Updated costs are to be presented in the forthcoming studies. 

Planned Start/End Date
Rainbow plans to publish a prefeasibility study (PFS) in the fourth quarter of 2026 and complete the definitive feasibility study (DFS) in the first half of 2027. 

Latest Developments
On September 24, 2026, Rainbow signed a memorandum of understanding with Neo Performance Materials for technical support and design input for the final SX circuit. Proposed offtake covers 40% of yearly NdPr oxide and 65% of yearly SEG+ carbonate production, with pricing linked to relevant rare earth indices. Binding long-form agreements are being negotiated. 

Testwork is under way at Neo’s Estonian facilities, ahead of a confirmatory integrated pilot-scale SX plant in Johannesburg. The companies will also consider toll treatment for the remaining SEG+ product, allowing for Rainbow to market separated dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. The PFS will advance financing and permitting workstreams.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Neo Performance Materials (proposed technical partner for final SX separation and offtake under the September 2026 MoU); ANSTO Minerals (SX modelling and mineral testwork); Mintek (pilot plant and front-end testwork); METC Engineering (economic studies and engineering); and NEXUS Intertrade (letter of intent for benign gypsum offtake).

Contact Details for Project Information
Rainbow Rare Earths investor relations, tel +44 777 565 5927 or email ej@rainbowrareearths.com.