London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths has reiterated how well-positioned its near-term rare earths project Phalaborwa, in South Africa, is considering current market conditions.

The rare earths basket price has risen by 80% in the first half of its 2022 financial year, significantly exceeding forecast price ranges. Notably, neodymium prices have risen by 94%, compared with the same months last year.

Reporting on its performance for the six months ended December 31, 2021, Rainbow says the low-carbon technologies required to facilitate the green revolution have a high minerals demand, particularly in the offshore wind and electric vehicle (EV) production space.

Test work continues to progress at the company’s 70%-owned Phalaborwa project.

Rainbow has determined it is possible to achieve strong recoveries through an acid leaching process, which will allow between 65% and 70% of rare earths contained in the Phalaborwa gypsum stacks to be recovered in solution.

The company plans to use hydraulic reclamation of gypsum stacks, eliminating costs traditionally associated with primary mining, crushing and grinding of ore.

Rainbow is investigating how it can further reduce capital and operating costs, with trade-off studies under way.

If need be, the company says it can produce the first mixed rare earth carbonate at lower upfront capital cost.

Test work has also confirmed that low levels of radioactive elements are present in the gypsum stacks and that existing water from the stacks can be used as process water in a closed circuit.

CEO George Bennett remarks that the escalating urgency to tackle climate change is throwing up a number of challenges, including a supply deficit of the raw materials required to drive the clean energy transition and a need to diversify the supply chain.

“With our near-term development opportunity at Phalaborwa in South Africa, we believe Rainbow is well-positioned to contribute to this global effort by providing a responsible, Western source of rare earth oxides, critical minerals for the permanent magnets used in offshore wind generation, EVs, mobile phones, electric scooters, bicycles and other green technologies.

“We have reached an important stage at Phalaborwa following the recent test work carried out and are working hard to explore all the optimisation opportunities and define the optimised process flow sheet. With the right team in place, I believe we are in a strong position to move forward and realise the full value of this exciting asset for our stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, Rainbow confirms that its Gakara project, which is a high-grade rare earth-producing trial mine at the moment, remains on care and maintenance at the request of the Burundi government.

Discussions are under way to get the project back up and running.