South Africa currently ranks only ninth on the global league table for rare earth reserves, well behind Australia in third place and the US in sixth.
But reserve rankings tell only part of the story, especially when it comes to rare earths.
The Shanghai Metals Market says South Africa’s strength lies less in tonnage but instead in its combination of high-grade monazite (a rare earths host mineral), high-value magnetic rare earths, the potential to recover rare earths from existing phosphogypsum waste, and some bonus battery-grade critical mineral manganese.
That mix has the potential to significantly add to non‑Chinese supply from the likes of Lynas (ASX:LYC), as well as production scheduled to come into the market from other Australian companies including Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) and Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU).
At the same time, South Africa’s Cabinet-approved Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy aims to move the country beyond digging and shipping ore to processing operations further down the value stream.
Three key projects could supply approximately 12.4 kilotonnes of rare earth oxides (REO) per annum by 2034, making South Africa the largest producer on the continent and the seventh globally.
Phalaborwa plans to turn phosphate waste into rare earths
Rather than building a new mine, Rainbow Rare Earths (LSE:RBW) is targeting phosphogypsum tailings left over from phosphate production at Phalaborwa in the northern Limpopo province. The project is designed to more readily recover magnetic rare earths and heavy rare earths, including yttrium, offering a potentially compelling combination of resource recovery and environmental remediation.
Zandkopsdrift combines rare earths with manganese
Frontier Rare Earths’ Zandkopsdrift Project in the Northern Cape province has an already considerable 789,000-tonne REO reserve, which includes ‘high-value’ magnet metals neodymium, praseodymium, and heavy rare earths.
The privately owned project’s manganese could additionally provide a revenue stream from the critical mineral used in steel production and, increasingly, lithium-ion batteries.
Steenkampskraal stands out for ‘high-grade’ monazite
Steenkampskraal is one of South Africa’s standout ‘high-grade’ monazite projects, with about 665,000 tonnes grading 14.5% total rare earth oxides (TREO). The project operator, Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine, started building a processing plant this year.
However, Steenkampskraal comes with the challenge of managing the associated thorium and radioactive waste, which will be a critical factor affecting how quickly the project at the northern tip of the Western Cape can advance.
Australia’s MRG Metals targets maiden resource
Just 70km northwest of Steenkampskraal is the Garies Rare Earth Project, which MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ) has put on a speedy track towards mining.
Based in Australia’s historic gold town of Ballarat, MRG has just raised $1.2 million to fund diamond drilling aimed at delivering a maiden JORC resource at Garies. That follows moving swiftly from acquisition to lodging a formal mining right application in less than six months.
The ‘high-grade’ monazite-hosted project has returned surface bulk sample grades of up to 4.85% TREO. The upcoming diamond drilling campaign, expected to start this month, is aimed at helping to define the scale and continuity of the system.
Those insights will feed into MRG’s maiden resource release as the region emerges as a rare earths hub.
Write to Christina Wagstaff at Mining.com.au
Main image: iStock
