The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) is providing a $220 million loan for the Yangibana Rare Earths Project.
The Western Australian Government has welcomed the investment, with the project expected to create hundreds of jobs and support the state’s Future Battery and Critical Minerals Industries Strategy.
It is estimated that the project will require 500 full-time equivalent construction positions plus 250 jobs once operational.
The Yangibana project, which is being facilitated by Hastings Technology Metals, includes a mine site 250km north-east of Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region and a hydrometallurgical processing plant in the Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area near Onslow in the Pilbara.
The operation will expand Western Australia’s capability in downstream processing of rare-earth minerals.
The Yangibana project will produce about 15,000 tonnes of Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) over the mine’s lifetime.
The demand for MREC relates to the need for neodymium and praseodymium rare-earth metals to produce magnets for use in electric vehicles, wind turbines and robotics.
State Development, Jobs and Trade Minister, Roger Cook, said, “This is using Western Australia’s rare-earth minerals to build the technology to support the global shift towards decarbonisation.”
Significant public benefits to the Gascoyne and Pilbara regions will be delivered through commitments Hastings is making regarding local employment and business opportunities, road upgrades, and installation of common-user communications infrastructure.
The project aligns with the Western Australian Government’s Future Battery and Critical Minerals Industries Strategy, to develop a world-leading sustainable and value-adding battery and critical minerals sector.
NAIF is a $5 billion Australian Government initiative to provide concessional loans to infrastructure facilities.
