RANKED: World’s top 10 rare earth projects

Rare earths, 17 minerals critical to the energy transition for their use in electric car batteries and wind turbines, are also crucial to national security for use in aerospace and defense applications.

Shutdowns to manufacturing plants in China during the Covid-19 pandemic that risked cutting off U.S. rare earths imports highlighted the nation is reliant on China for its rare earths needs. The only producing rare earths mine in the United States – California’s Mountain Pass – is partly owned by a Chinese state-backed company that currently sends material mined in the U.S. to China for processing. Canada, with only one producing rare earths mine is similarly reliant on imports of the minerals. 

In a race to establish new supply chains, miners are searching the world for rare earths deposits, but the minerals are notoriously difficult to extract from hard rock and expensive to process.

Putting a spotlight on potential rare earths mines of the future, Mining Intelligence compiled a list of the world’s top 10 rare earth projects, measured by total rare earth oxide (TREO) resources.

#1 Tanbreez

Development status: Permitting // Geology: Alkaline Intrusion-Related

The Tanbreez property in Greenland, owned by privately-owned Rimbal, takes top spot on the list with a 28.2 million tonne TREO resource. Rare earth explorers are drawn to Greenland to dig into what the US Geological Survey calls the world’s biggest undeveloped deposits of rare earth metals. Former U.S. president Trump famously offered to buy Greenland to gain access to its resources, and the company’s owner told Reuters he had met U.S. officials weeks before Trump made the offer.

#2 St Honoré 

Development status: Advanced Exploration // Geology: Carbonatite

Magris Resources’ St Honoré project in Québec is in second place with 18.4 million tonnes of TREO. The property is situated 1 km north of Magris’ operating niobium mine.

#3 Kvanefjeld

Development status: Permitting // Geology: Alkaline Intrusion-Related

Australia-based Energy Transition Minerals’ (ASX: ETM) Kvanefjeld project is in third place with a 10.2 million tonne resource. Formerly Greenland Minerals, the company’s Kvanefjeld operation was granted preliminary approval in 2020, but in 2021 Greenland’s parliament passed a bill to ban uranium mining and exploration, effectively blocking development as uranium would be a by-product of the rare earth mine. Last year, the miner took the governments of Greenland and Denmark to court over the legislation.

#4 Mrima Hill

Development status: Advanced Exploration // Geology: Carbonatite

Mrima Hill in Kenya, eastern Africa, takes fourth place with 6.1 million tonnes TREO. The property is owned by Canadian-listed Pacific Wildcat Resources, which in 2018 was ordered to pay royalties to the government to ensure Kenya gets a bigger share of earnings from its nascent mining sector.

#5 Halleck Creek

Development status: Advanced Exploration // Geology: Alkaline Intrusion-Related

American Rare Earths‘ (ASX: ARR) Halleck Creek project in Wyoming is number five with a 4.7 million tonne resource. The company says the chemical composition of the feedstock at Halleck Creek is low on thorium content, which would make it easier and more economical to process.

#6 Ashram

Development status: Preliminary Economic Assessment // Geology: Carbonatite

Commerce Resources‘ (TSXV: CCE ; US-OTC: CMRZF) Ashram project in Quebec is in sixth place with 4.68 million tonne TREO. Located in the northern region of the province, Ashram is one of the largest rare earth deposits in the world with a fluorspar component which also ranks as one of the largest defined globally.

#7 Ngualla

Development status: Permitting // Geology: Carbonatite

Peak Rare Earths‘ (ASX: PEK) Ngualla project in Tanzania takes seventh place with 4.6 million tonnes of TREO. The company says concentrate will initially be sold as a standalone product, while the study of downstream integration opportunities is undertaken in collaboration with the government of Tanzania.

#8 Strange Lake

Development status: Prefeasibility // Geology: Alkaline Intrusion-Related

Privately-owned Torngat Metals’ Strange Lake project in the Nunavik region of Quebec is in eighth place with 4.4 million tonnes of TREO. Last year, Torngat received a $50 million investment to advance the project.

#9 Montviel

Development status: Preliminary Economic Assessment // Geology: Carbonatite

Geomega Resources‘ (TSXV: GMA) Montviel property in Abitibi, Quebec takes ninth place with a 3.9-million tonne  resource. Initial drill results confirmed Montviel as world class neodymium resource.

#10 Nechalacho

Development status: Feasibility // Geology: Alkaline Intrusion-Related

Rounding out our list is Avalon Advanced Materials‘ (TSX: AVL; US-OTC: AVLNF) Nechalacho project with a 1.8-million-tonne resource. Nechalacho, located at Thor Lake in the Mackenzie Mining District of the Northwest Territories is separate from, but has the same name as Canada’s first producing rare earths mine, owned by Vital Metals (ASX: VML). Avalon retains the rights to mineralization below 150 metres at Vital’s operation. 

More data is at Mining Intelligence.