Singapore-listed commodities trading firm Noble Group is set to take a small stake in ambitious Australian rare earths developer Arafura, raising its exposure to strategic minerals critical to high-tech industries and electric vehicles.[MELBOURNE] Singapore-listed commodities trading firm Noble Group is set to take a small stake in ambitious Australian rare earths developer Arafura, raising its exposure to strategic minerals critical to high-tech industries and electric vehicles.
The offering was priced at a hefty discount - A$0.085 compared to A$0.125 on Wednesday's close - sending shares in Arafura skidding 20 per cent on Thursday. Prior to the offer, the developer's market value was around A$98 million. Arafura is developing the Nolans project in Australia's Northern Territory, seeking to secure US$1 billion in funding for the project that includes a processing plant.
Australia contains only 2.8 per cent of the world's rare earth reserves, according to the United States Geological Survey. However, the country accounts for more than half of the new projects in the global pipeline.