Shareholders tip $4m into ABx kitty for rare earths venture

ABx Group has secured$4 million from existing shareholders through a share purchase plan to advance its Deep Leads rare earth element exploration in northern Tasmania. The money was raised off the back of a bonanza rare earth drill hit going at an impressive 3,306 parts per million total rare earth oxides.

The company raised the cash from 443 shareholders, representing 21 per cent of its holders. It will issue 40,786,500 fully paid ordinary shares purchased at $0.10 per share.

Shareholders who participated in the purchase plan will soon be offered the opportunity to receive one free attaching unlisted option for every share that they applied for, exercisable at $0.20 per option on or before 31 May 2023 for nil consideration.

The Deep Leads rare earth find was an unexpected value-add to ABx’s Tasmanian bauxite project with a mapped mineralisation area greater than its bauxite deposit.

The company is furiously drilling to test the Deep Leads mineralisation extensions to the north-west, north-east and south. Previous bauxite-focused exploration had drill depths between 10 and 20 metres downhole, however the company says the rare earth mineralisation requires 25m drill depths to properly test rare earth mineralisation.

ABx’s mineralised parcel is highly enriched in the heavy rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. The suite of elements is considered super-magnetic and they fetch a high price from the electric vehicle, wind turbine, smart phone and military electronics markets that have all been going gangbusters recently.

Similar heavy rare earth deposits are hard to find worldwide. There is one other pilot plant capable of producing heavy rare earths operated by Northern Minerals in northern WA, however there are only five actively producing heavy rare earth mines in the world and importantly, they are all in China.

ABx Group Chief Executive Officer Ian Levy said: “We are grateful for the strong shareholder support for our exploration initiatives in discovering a rare type of rare earth elements and support for the Alcore technology development which is strategically crucial for Australia and especially for shareholders of the ABx Group.”

As the heavy rare earth bull market rages onwards and upwards, having more than doubled in the past 12 months due to supply constraints from the Chinese dominated industry, ABx Group looks to be in an intriguing position as the global demand for battery materials continues to grow.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au