A New Force in?
August 24, 2022Opinion
Many of you will remember the New Force in Iron Ore several years back when Fortescue Metals Group burst onto the iron ore scene with the catchphrase. And kind prescient it turned out to be. Since that time, FMG and Andrew Forrest have delved into many different investments, from property to cattle stations to Hydrogen to RM Williams boots.
This week tongues were wagging with FMG’s arrival on the south coast of WA as a major tenement holder. FMG, it seems, is turning its hand to much more than iron ore with this latest pegging rush. The area east of Ravensthorpe and stretching westwards towards Jerramungup is not precisely an iron ore region. The area nearby is prospective for lithium (Ravensthorpe) with some nickel and graphite. But recently, there has been a rush of pegging and interest to the east of Ravensthorpe stretching eastwards.
Esperance has been identified as a Rare Earths province, with several companies uncovering near surface REE results. The ‘ionic clay’ style of mineralisation is new to WA as an REE deposit. However, it has been successfully mined in other parts of the world, particularly China, for years. So far, the companies in this space have been junior explorers with various landholdings. Seen as a whole, the collective REE ionic clays area could be a major mining project area. And now FMG arriving on the scene….is this the seal of approval? The credibility that makes everyone stand up and take note? Is this the new force in ionic REE clays???
Some of the farmers in the area are far from convinced. In truth, most of them are none the wiser, with the booming farming conditions taking a lot more of their attention. Who would want a junior geologist traipsing all over our land heavy with bountiful crops? Bugger off, mate!
But, in all other areas of this great state of Western Australia, mining and farming concerns have been able to find a workable basis to co-exist. Will the arrival of the big Twig on the scene enable all explorers to forge a feasible exploration model enabling farming and mining to operate alongside each other?
[Someone might need to point out to the farmers that the mineral rights in the top portion of land belong to the farmer as landowners. That’s right, explorers find it, mine, and then it belongs to the farmers anyway]
The Rare Earths space is a hot area right now driven by the move to renewable technologies, which use a lot of the heavy REE elements that form the magnets and other high-end machinery components that will drive the zero-carbon future. The trouble with the REE industry is that China mainly owns it, and now that political lines have been drawn to ensure the security of the supply of critical metals, the world wants a different, more secure (read “friendly”) supply of REE elements. That’s where Australia comes into it, particularly Western Australia, where we have many rocks and geology necessary to produce REE elements.
So, if we have found a potentially enormous province of REEs on the south coast, that’s a good thing for the western world. Political will should prevail to provide a basis so explorers can prove a ‘project of national interest’. And if FMG wants to flash around the cash and buy up all the explorers to become the “New Force in Ionic Rare Earth Clays”, then a couple of small companies holding in the area will be quite happy. Not to mention the farmers and their children who should be very well looked after too!
Eventually, though, WA will become the New Force in Rare Earths!
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