Arafura’s Nolans Rare Rarths Project Moves to Construction After Final Investment Decision

Arafura Rare Earths has moved the Nolans project from strategic ambition into execution, approving development of what is planned to become Australia’s first fully integrated ore-to-oxide rare earths operation.

The final investment decision, announced on 21 May, gives the Northern Territory project a construction pathway after more than two decades of development, financing and offtake work. Arafura is now targeting the start of construction activities from September 2026, with Hatch already engaged as engineering, procurement and construction management contractor to support execution readiness.

Nolans is not a conventional mine-to-export project. Its strategic value lies in the integration of mining and rare earth processing on Australian soil, allowing Arafura to produce neodymium-praseodymium oxide rather than simply ship mineral concentrate into offshore refining systems. That makes the project materially more important than its mine footprint alone, particularly as automotive, wind energy and high-technology manufacturers seek supply outside China-dominated processing chains.

The project is planned to produce 4,440 tonnes per annum of NdPr oxide over a proposed 38-year operating life. The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation says Nolans is expected to account for around 4% of global NdPr demand from 2032, with more than 600 construction jobs and about 350 steady-state operating roles forecast through development and operations.

The financing and customer base have become central to the project’s momentum. Arafura has secured long-term offtake with tier-one counterparties across the United States, Europe and South Korea, with the company identifying Hyundai, Kia, Siemens Gamesa and Traxys among its customer relationships.

A non-binding letter of support from Export Finance Australia also covers potential Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve support for up to 500 tonnes per annum of NdPr oxide from Nolans.

The capital-market follow-through has also been rapid. Arafura has received commitments for a A$350 million two-tranche placement, including an A$85 million commitment from Hancock Prospecting, while a A$25 million share purchase plan is also being pursued.

The placement follows the Nolans final investment decision and is intended to satisfy the project’s equity funding requirement when combined with other funding arrangements.

Nolans has already cleared key tenure and permitting milestones. A Native Title Agreement covering the project was executed in June 2020, mineral leases were granted in July 2020, borefield mineral leases followed in February 2021 and the project received its Authority to Mine in November 2022 after approval of the Mining Management Plan and associated environmental management plans.

For the Northern Territory, the development gives rare earths a more tangible industrial base near Alice Springs. Nolans is located about 135 kilometres north of Alice Springs, placing the regional centre in a logistics, workforce and service role during construction and operations.

The project is forecast to create opportunities across earthworks, civils, camp services, water infrastructure, power, reagent supply, transport, maintenance, environmental management and process-plant construction.

The timing also gives the project geopolitical weight. Rare earths policy has often been dominated by national-security language, but Nolans now offers a construction-stage test of whether Australia can build a higher-value critical minerals supply chain inside the country rather than remaining a raw-material exporter.

The project’s single-site ore-to-oxide model is designed to retain more of the rare earth value chain domestically and give downstream customers a more direct non-China source of separated rare earth material.