(Adds background, details)
April 11 (Reuters) - Australia's Arafura Rare Earths Ltd said on Tuesday it had signed an offtake agreement for
at least five years with wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa
Renewable Energy A/S , sending the Perth-based miner's
shares soaring more than 11%.
Arafura will supply 200 tonnes per annum (tpa) of key
elements neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) from the Nolans
project in the Northern Territory commencing in 2026. This will
increase to 400 tpa when the Nolans Project achieves nameplate
production capacity.
Shares of the company were up 11.5% at A$0.54 at 0026 GMT.
Siemens Gamesa will use NdPr to manufacture permanent
magnets for offshore wind turbines assembled at its Cuxahevn
facility in Germany.
In March, Arafura received a $600 million loan guarantee
from German credit agency Euler Hermes Aktiengesellschaft to
develop its Nolans project.
This was contingent on Arafura signing supply deals with
German firms, and corresponding quantities of NdPr products
ultimately being processed in Germany into permanent magnets or
powertrains.
"The agreement will support ongoing discussions with German
ECA Euler Hermes," the company said.
Arafura has previously signed supply deals with South
Korea's Hyundai Motor Co and its unit Kia Corp to supply up to 1,500 tonnes of a rare-earth oxide
per year.
The company said on Tuesday it expects first production of
NdPr oxide in 2025, with production set to be boosted to 4,400
tpa from 2028.
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)
