New Frontier Minerals Uncovers High-Value Heavy Rare Earths at Harts Range

Key Highlights:

• Samples reveal up to 11.75% Dysprosium Oxide and 1.87% Terbium Oxide.
• Over 92% of rare earth basket dominated by Heavy Rare Earths (HREE).
• China’s export controls create strategic opening for non-Chinese suppliers.
   

New Frontier Minerals Ltd (ASX: NFM) has unveiled compelling results from its Harts Range Project in the Northern Territory, highlighting substantial concentrations of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs), notably Dysprosium and Terbium—both of which are critical to global high-tech and defence supply chains.

The company’s latest rare earth distribution analysis across the Cusp and Bobs Prospects revealed that the project hosts some of the highest-grade HREE mineralisation reported in Australia this year. Laboratory assays confirmed a remarkable 11.75% Dysprosium Oxide and 1.87% Terbium Oxide in the total rare earth oxide (TREO) basket at Cusp. At Bobs, the TREO mix was similarly dominated by heavy rare earths, with 8.75% Dysprosium and 1.18% Terbium. In both prospects, over 90% of the basket is composed of HREEs, positioning New Frontier as a prime contender to fill emerging supply gaps.

This announcement comes just days after China, the global leader in rare earth refining, enforced strict export restrictions on several medium and heavy rare earths, including Dysprosium and Terbium. These elements are essential for manufacturing permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and defence technologies like the F-35 aircraft and Virginia-class submarines.

“The initial analysis at the Cusp and Bobs Prospects of the Harts Range Project has revealed a strong dominance of heavy rare earth elements, in particular Dysprosium and Terbium, which is highly encouraging,” said Chairman Ged Hall. “With China’s recent export controls now in effect, the need for alternate sources of these critical elements is more urgent than ever.”

HREEs like Dysprosium enhance the heat resistance and magnetic properties of Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) magnets, making them indispensable in advanced electric motors and aerospace systems. Dysprosium alone is forecast to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2%, with the global market expected to rise from USD 1.05 billion in 2025 to USD 1.75 billion by 2035.

New Frontier’s Harts Range Project, approximately 140km northeast of Alice Springs, now emerges as a key asset at the intersection of geological potential and geopolitical urgency. Unlike light rare earths, economically viable HREE deposits are extremely rare outside China, making New Frontier’s discoveries strategically significant.

Further adding to its credentials, New Frontier Minerals holds additional interests in copper and uranium at its NWQ Copper and Broken Hill projects, but the spotlight is now firmly on Harts Range. The project’s mineralisation is primarily hosted in samarskite-rich pegmatites, with mineralogical similarities to other globally significant rare earth deposits.

With a clear strategic imperative and escalating global demand, New Frontier Minerals is poised to play a critical role in diversifying the world’s rare earth supply chain—just as Western nations accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese critical minerals.

At the time of writing this article, NFM shares were trading at A $0.013