New Frontier Minerals Ltd (ASX:NFM) flagged that a fundraise is in the offing, as it requested the suspension of its ASX quote.
The company earlier this week announced a binding commercial framework with Metallium to develop an exclusive heavy rare earth processing pathway for material from the Harts Range project.
With Harts Range, the partners intend to target potential magnet and defence customers in the United States.
The collab follows test-work on a 25kg bulk sample that delivered what the companies described as exceptional beneficiation results using Metallium’s Flash Joule Heating technology.
The test results showed substantial enrichment of key heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, together with full removal of detectable iron, silica and thorium, without the need for traditional acid-leach or reagent-heavy processing steps.
Metallium has secured exclusive global rights to process all Harts Range ore for at least ten years, earning a processing margin and a 1.5% net smelter return–equivalent royalty once commercial production begins.
In London, meanwhile, New Frontier's UK quote was down 2.2% changing hands at 1.1p each.