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Victory Metals (ASX: VTM) has partnered with Curtin University in Perth, Australia, to process heavy rare earth concentrate into mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) at pilot scale, advancing its plans for downstream processing in Australia.
Under the material transfer agreement, concentrate produced at Victory’s Burswood plant will be processed at the university’s Cathode Precursor Production Pilot Plant (C4P). The facility was developed to support Australia’s battery and critical minerals industry and represents more than A$18.4 million (C$17.96 million) in investment.
“Securing access to the C4P facility is a significant development for Victory Metals and our ambition to establish an integrated Australian heavy rare earth supply chain,” said Brendan Clark, Victory’s executive director and CEO. “This is particularly important because we can leverage established Australian processing infrastructure and expertise rather than having to develop every stage of the downstream processing pathway independently.”
MREC samples produced under the program are expected to be returned to Victory for technical assessment and evaluation alongside international offtake and refining partners. The agreement runs through 2027.
The pilot work is also intended to test an Australian processing route for concentrate from Victory’s North Stanmore rare earth project.
Victory’s shares closed at A$1.24 apiece, up 0.4%, Wednesday in Sydney.
Chinese restrictions
The partnership comes as Australia and the U.S. have made efforts to limit Chinese investment in critical minerals. In May, the Australian government ordered Chinese investors to sell rare earth stakes in Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU), citing national security concerns.
On Nov. 9, China announced a further suspension of certain export-control measures until Jan. 10, 2027. These include measures relating to medium and heavy rare-earth products.
“Victory is positioning itself to play an important role in developing Australia’s domestic heavy rare earth supply chain,” Clark added.
With China controlling about 60% of the world’s mined rare earth output and nearly all of the minerals’ processing capacity, many governments have looked for ways to secure their own production.
Victory says the establishment of Australian MREC processing is relevant to customers in the U.S., Europe, Japan, India, South Korea and Vietnam.