Hastings and Neo sign agreement for rare earth concentrate offtake and downstream collab.
by CM Staff
The rare earth concentrate feedstock from Yangibana would assist in meeting Neo's growing requirements for its existing and new facilities.
TORONTO — Hastings Technology Metals Ltd and Neo Performance Materials Inc announcee the signing of a non-binding Heads of Agreement, signalling their intention to take a step forward in a potential strategic partnership between the two companies to strengthen their shared vision for an integrated mine-to-magnet rare earth supply chain.
The Agreement outlines the framework for both parties to negotiate a binding offtake agreement and pursue further downstream technical and commercial collaboration.
Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia (WA), Hastings is developing the Yangibana Rare Earths Project, which involves the initial development of a mine and beneficiation plant to produce 37,000 tonnes per annum of mixed rare earth concentrate.
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Neo is a manufacturer of rare earth magnetic powders and Neodymium bonded magnets. Neo has a global platform that includes ten manufacturing facilities located in Canada, China, Estonia, Germany, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as a dedicated research and development centre in Singapore.
The rare earth concentrate feedstock from Yangibana would assist in meeting Neo’s growing requirements for its existing and new facilities. This includes the only industrial-scale, commercially operating rare earth separation facility in the Western hemisphere in Sillamäe, Estonia. Neo has also commenced the development of a sintered rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing plant.
This strategic partnership builds on Hastings’ 19.9% investment in Neo and the vertical integration strategy of both companies to supply magnets to the European electric vehicle traction motor market and other electrification markets including wind turbines, robotics and other advanced technologies.
Neo Performance Materials CEO, Constantine Karayannopoulos, said:
“This initiative supports Neo’s strategic efforts to continue to globally diversify our sources of rare earth feedstock and to provide our customers with maximum supply chain optionality. The Yangibana resource is an attractive potential source of magnetic rare earths–NdPr in particular–and it could contribute to meeting the feedstock targets of our planned Estonia magnet manufacturing facility as well as a potential future expansion in North America. Neo looks forward to working toward a definitive agreement with Hastings on the material from the Yangibana project.”
KEY TERMS – HEADS OF AGREEMENT
The Agreement provides a framework for both parties to negotiate a binding offtake agreement for the supply of up to 70% (approximately 25,000 tonnes) of the annual concentrate production from Stage 1 of Yangibana. The 10-year initial term would commence with the production of Stage 1 concentrate (from Q1 CY2025) that would be processed into MREC by a third party. It would continue until such a time as MREC is produced by Hastings at Stage 2 of Yangibana, when the offtake agreement is expected to evolve to supply up to 10,000 tonnes per annum of MREC.
