Arafura Rare Earths Limited has issued an update on the activities related to its Nolans Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) Project in the Northern Territory (NT).
Enabling works are now underway at the Nolans Project, including the construction and rehabilitation of more than 25 km of site access roads, earthworks for the construction camp and installation of the fly camp.
Arafura has already started procuring long lead and critical path equipment and materials, including the sulphuric acid plant, paddle dryers and equipment to support the site’s water infrastructure.
Other construction activities include the installation of a 400-person construction village, the drilling of monitoring bores and the installation of water pumping systems across the site.
Arafura said that based on the positive progress on the site, combined with the approval of the project’s water extraction licence, it is confident that it can soon create a permanent water supply for construction later in the year.
According to the company, the successful capital-raising effort completed in January 2023 has improved the confidence of the company’s board and underpinned their approval in relation to the commencement of activities critical to the construction of the project.
It added that it received in-principle support for Nolans of up to $889.81 million in loan guarantees from German export credit agency Euler Hermes Aktiengesellschaft, along with further support from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to increase its tranche of project finance to $100 million to $150 million.
Arafura is also in discussions to negotiate product supplies with prospective offtake partners and is in advanced negotiations with different parties for equity participation.
The company said it would provide further details about its project funding arrangements when binding agreements have been made.
