RARE EARTHS
The XRF assaying proved a useful tool to track both rare earths and gallium mineralisation, the latter being used as a pathfinder for fluorspar.
High gallium grades in fluorspar-bearing fenites.
on its milestones—securing USTDA funding, advancing the fluorspar project, and maintaining a steady flow of progress updates. That track record of execution is a key factor in attracting and retaining investor interest.” While still modest, Altona’s market capitalisation grew from £4 million a year ago to £17 million. Fundamentals for critical minerals The primary drivers for critical minerals are the global energy transition, digitalisation and national security, with demand expected to rise to five-fold by 2035. The surge is fuelled by electrification (EVs, batteries), renewable energy infrastructure (wind, solar), and high-tech defence applications, making secure supply chains essential for economic and geopolitical strategy. According to Simonet, rare earth element prices have risen steadily over the past six months, returning to levels last seen in mid-2023 following the 2022 peak. “The landscape in the critical minerals space has changed considerably over the past two years. The unrealistic expectations related to REE demand have stablised with key commodities in this space, such as lithium, gaining maturity. Importantly, because of geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, we are now seeing tangible efforts from non-Chinese governments to develop independent supply chains. Moreover, there has been a clear policy shift from the US government towards supporting critical mineral projects, both domestically and overseas, and that has been extremely positive for Altona.” REEs are critical to the US due to their essential role in defence technologies (missile guidance, radars) and clean energy (EV motors, wind turbines). Driven by geopolitical competition and high import reliance on China—for minerals like Dysprosium, Neodymium, and Terbium—the US is prioritising securing domestic supply chains, advancing legislative action, and creating new strategic partnerships to bolster economic and national security. For Altona, which is advancing its assets containing rare earth elements (REEs) and gallium, materials essential for high- performance magnets, renewable energy, and electronics, the future is looking promising.
Training is one of the key pillars of the company’s ESG policy.
“A few years ago, there was little incentive for early-stage projects to receive support from the European Commission or from the US government. That has since changed and, as a case in point, in February, Altona signed a grant agreement with the USTDA for $1.875 million to support the development of our REE project. This substantial investment has been earmarked for the metallurgy and process engineering components of the pre-feasibility study of the Monte Muambe rare earths project.” As a result of the strong and growing demand, industry is seeing “increased development in the midstream segment of the supply chain, alongside the emergence of new markets for upstream products such as concentrates and mixed rare earth carbonates outside the Chinese supply chain.” Interest is also growing in fluorspar, an industrial mineral with thousands of well-established applications. Fluorspar offers exposure to emerging technologies linked to the green energy transition and electrification. “Fluorine is essential in the production of lithium batteries, with several battery chemistries relying on fluorine-based compounds—making fluorspar a key input. We believe fluorspar has one of the strongest global outlooks among industrial minerals,” concludes Simonet. n
18 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | JULY 2026
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