Australia has scored a "big win" in its effort to dislodge China's grip on high-tech supply chains after a Gina Rinehart-backed rare earths miner gave the green light for its flagship project.
Arafura Rare Earths' final investment decision to build its Nolans Project - which will be Australia's first fully integrated ore-to-oxide rare earths operation - in the Northern Territory marks a major milestone as the West seeks to reduce its economic reliance on China.
Thursday's decision came after years of building offtake relationships with companies including Hyundai, Kia and Siemens and as the miner became the first company to secure support under a federal government plan to build a rare earths strategic reserve.
China mines more than half the world's rare earths but refines as much as 90 per cent of global production.
