Northern Minerals Ltd., Australia, announces that it has signed a rare earths supply agreement with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Materials Trading for 100% offtake from the Western Australia Browns Range pilot plant, which has already begun producing heavy rare earth carbonates.
Under the terms of the agreement, Thyssenkrupp will purchase all heavy rare earth carbonates from the pilot plant and will serve as the exclusive sales partner of Northern Minerals. The two companies will jointly work on the implementation of separating technologies and future expansion of the Browns Range project.
Wolfgang Schnittker, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Materials Trading, commented, “Northern Minerals Limited is one of the few suppliers of rare earths outside China, so we are really looking forward to a successful collaboration between the companies. As the exclusive marketer of these high-quality products, we have the opportunity to strengthen our customer relationships long-term and expand our positioning in this field.”
Northern Minerals Chief Executive Officer George Bauk says the company will benefit from the lack of price caps in the agreement, noting that dysprosium and terbium prices are up 60 percent and 35 percent respectively over the year to date, as electric vehicles become more popular. Prices of rare earths elements have jumped this year on speculation that China, which controls about 80 percent of the supply, could cut shipments to the United States due to the ongoing trade war.
The agreement replaces the recently terminated offtake agreement Northern Minerals had with China’s Lianyugang Zeyu New Materials Sales. Northern Minerals cited a contract breach when it canceled its two-year agreement with Lianyugang Zeyu on August 6, but did not give further details.
