Mining company Critical Metals Corp signed a binding heads of agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Tanbreez Greenland Rare Earth Mine from Rimbal Pty. The transaction is valued at up to $211 million.
Once operational, Tanbreez is expected to supply rare earth elements (REEs) to customers in the western hemisphere to support the production of a wide range of commercial and military products, including battery alloys.
The company said the Tanbreez mine, in southern Greenland, is expected to possess more than 27% heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). The HREEs include ytrrium, dysprosium, gadolinium, erbium, ytterbium, holmium, terbium, lutetium and thulium. They carry a much higher value than the more sought-after light REEs.
Critical Metals Corp CEO and Chairman, Tony Sage, said: “With Tanbreez expected to be under the Critical Metals Corp banner, we will have the ability to further support our commercial network in Europe while simultaneously being able to evaluate additional opportunities to tap into the upside potential of the North American market.”
The project is permitted with a mining license granted for 30 years by the Greenland government in 2020. The area covers 18 square km at Killavaat Alannguat.
The company said with China dominating more than 90% of the world’s rare earth assets, this acquisition would represent “a strategic move” as the company positions itself as a leading supplier of critical minerals for the western world.
Critical Metals Corp said its assessment and estimates of the Tanbreez Project to date have been limited.
On Monday, the Canadian government updated its Critical Minerals List to include phosphorous, high-purity iron and silicon metal. Mineral development company First Phosphate welcomed this and said it believes that Quebec igneous anorthosite phosphate rock is an untapped source of high purity phosphate which could be mined and transformed into large quantities of high purity purified phosphoric acid (PPA).
Its objective is the development of an LFP battery valley in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec. LFP battery production requires PPA.
The company said a decision by the US government on the status of phosphorous as a critical and strategic mineral is expected in 2024–25. A US Senate bill (S. 3956) to include phosphorous on the final list of critical minerals of the US Department of the Interior was introduced on 14 March, 2024.
