Neodymium prices were 29.91% higher than a year ago as of 18 August, despite falling 4.98% over the past month, according to Trading Economics.
While the rare earth element remains below its all-time record of ¥1.52 million ($318,328) per tonne in February 2022, neodymium is currently priced at ¥955,000 per tonne.
Trading Economics forecasts further gains for the metal in the current quarter, expecting it to reach ¥965,055 per tonne.
Neodymium is a soft, silvery-white rare earth metal that is commonly found in the Earth’s crust.
The metal is often paired with praseodymium to create a neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) alloy, historically referred to as didymium. Neodymium and praseodymium sit next to each other in the periodic table, share nearly identical chemical properties, and occur naturally together in rare earth ores.
Separating the two rare earths can be expensive, so they are often kept combined to create high-strength magnets.
According to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources’ (DISR) June 2026 Resources and Energy Quarterly, NdPr prices are expected to drive project revenue globally, while by-product credits of other rare earth elements and titanium or zirconium ores may affect the likelihood of certain projects coming online.
In Australia, 13,800 tonnes of total rare earth oxide (TREO) concentrates were produced in the 2025–26 period, which is expected to increase to 26,000 tonnes in the 2026–27 period.
TREO concentrate production is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 28% from 2025–26.
Australian TREO produced in 2025–26 contains 7.3 tonnes of NdPr content.
This figure is forecast to increase to 13 tonnes over the 2026–27 period, remaining stagnant the following year, before increasing to 13.4 tonnes in 2028–29.
Companies to watch
Ark Mines’ (ASX:AHK) Sandy Mitchell Rare Earths Project in Far North Queensland is one Australian asset containing both light and heavy rare earths in mineral sand deposits.
Ark Mines says the rare earth concentrates sourced from Sandy Mitchell can be sold to domestic refineries, as well as refineries in China and the US, to generate revenue.
The company says revenue from concentrate sales would support development of a processing plant to produce mixed rare earth carbonates and NdPr oxides.
Beyond NdPr, Sandy Mitchell contains mineralisation of the remaining critical light rare earths, as well as dysprosium, terbium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, yttrium, monazite, zircon, rutile, xenotime, and ilmenite.
In early June, IHC Robbins generated a commercial monazite product sample from a heavy mineral concentrate sourced from Ark Mines’ Sandy Mitchell deposit.
Feedstock to produce the concentrate was wholly sourced from a bulk retained fraction of Ark Mines’ resource drilling campaign at the Sandy Mitchell deposit, graded at 54.8% TREO and 1.49% yttrium oxide in the highest-grade stream.
Within TREO, the proportion of NdPr oxide was graded at 23.4%.
Ark Mines is a critical minerals exploration and development company with assets in North Queensland.
Over in Western Australia, RareX (ASX:REE) has its Cummins Range Rare Earths and Phosphate Project.
The company reported ‘strong’ metallurgical results last month, with flotation test work achieving a 9.5x upgrade to a concentrate grading 25.15% TREO.
Flotation test work was conducted by SGS Lakefield, using a composite sample grading at 2.85% TREO. RareX says this is typical of ‘high-grade’ zones within the deposit.
Test F7 delivered 25.15% TREO at 29.2% recovery in the final concentrate, while test F8 delivered 74.6% recovery at a 6.41% TREO grade. Test F8 was designed to improve rougher recovery.
Cummins Range hosts a mineral resource estimate of 524 million tonnes (Mt) @ 0.31% TREO and 4.6% phosphorus pentoxide (P₂O₅), containing 1.6Mt TREO and 24Mt P₂O₅.
Meanwhile at its Khaleesi Project, also in WA, RareX has mobilised field crews to conduct a 3,500m drilling campaign.
Drilling is expected to begin shortly, using reverse circulation rigs to test five priority targets for gallium, rare earth elements, and niobium across the Khaleesi Alkaline Intrusive Complex.
RareX is a critical minerals company specialising in REEs, gallium, niobium, and scandium projects hosted in hard-rock carbonatites.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: iStock
