Hastings-Wyloo join forces for WA rare earths projectCraig NolanSponsoredMon, 22 September 2025 1:12PM
Hastings Technology Metals has officially joined forces with powerhouse private firm Wyloo Consolidated Investments. The deal marks a significant step in Australia’s critical minerals landscape, with the formation of an unincorporated joint venture over Western Australia’s world-class Yangibana rare earths and niobium project.
The joint venture satisfies or waives all the conditions precedent between the two firms and their related entities, unlocking a strategic partnership where Wyloo takes a 60 per cent stake and assumes the role of manager and operator of the project. Hastings retains a robust 40 per cent interest.
The deal eliminates $123 million in exchangeable notes owed by Hastings to Wyloo, slashing Hastings’ debt burden and reducing its stage one beneficiation plant funding needs to an estimated $13 million to $32 million.
It enables the two firms to co-operate through a contractual agreement rather than a separate legal entity or company, encompassing a fully permitted mining operation and beneficiation plant in stage one and a planned hydrometallurgical facility in stage two.
With an 18-month construction timeline targeted for a final investment decision on the beneficiation plant, Yangibana is poised to deliver long-term value, cementing its status as a linchpin in the global rare earths supply chain. The JV formation is a masterstroke, blending Wyloo’s technical and financial firepower with Hastings’ world-class asset in the Gascoyne region.
The project is a rare earths juggernaut with a JORC-compliant resource of 29.93 million tonnes at 0.93 per cent total rare earths oxide (TREO) and 0.31 per cent niobium oxide. Having received overwhelming shareholder approval, the deal extinguishes the debt owed to Wyloo and significantly strengthens Hastings’ balance sheet, while providing it with considerable upside from its stake in the project.
This partnership with Wyloo provides a clear, credible and significantly de-risked pathway to production. It validates the world-class nature of the Yangibana deposit and allows us to unlock the immense value of the project for our shareholders while retaining a meaningful 40 per cent stake.
Hastings Technology Metals chief executive officer Vince Catania
We are excited to formally commence our partnership with Hastings and progress the development of this globally significant rare earth project. Yangibana is a high-quality rare earth deposit with an attractive basket composition.
Wyloo Consolidated Investments chief executive officer Luca Giacovazzi
The joint venture’s key terms are consistent with an agreement revealed on May 16, and will see two representatives from each firm form a project management committee.
A Wyloo subsidiary has been appointed as the exclusive marketing manager for all products produced under the agreement, with two representatives from each firm to head up a marketing committee. The focus is to ensure a streamlined sales process of high-demand neodymium and praseodymium for electric vehicle magnets and wind turbines.
The completion of the agreement results in full and final settlement of the $123 million exchangeable notes held by Wyloo and follows the transfer of about 8.35 million shares in Neo Performance Materials from Hastings to Wyloo on February 20 as part of stage one of the transaction.
Hastings is to make a final $7.4 million payment to Wyloo within 45 days of commencement of the joint venture, representing the agreed value of the remaining 623,816 Neo shares as of May 14.
Assuming a remaining $316 million capital expenditure cost for the project and a 50 per cent to 60 per cent gearing structure, Hastings is no longer burdened by the prospect of huge debt or crushing equity raises to move into production status based on its 40 per cent stake.
By linking arms with a firm bearing financial muscle power, it can leverage Wyloo’s pro-rata commitment for 60 per cent funding for Yangibana.
Yangibana’s next steps are clear and precise. Activities underway or planned include mine scheduling, capex and opex reviews and finalising the project’s execution plan and budget ahead of a final investment decision for stage one development. The remaining engineering design work for the beneficiation plant and offtake and finance discussions for the remaining project funding debt are still to be completed.
Offtake talks with global players and debt financing discussions are accelerating, building on the project’s robust fundamentals of an initial 17-year mine life to produce 37,000 tonnes per annum of mixed rare earth carbonate.
Located near existing infrastructure, Yangibana benefits from low sovereign risk and Australia’s critical minerals push. Demand for rare earths is anticipated to springboard 7 per cent annually to 2030.
This deal is Hastings’ ticket to rare earths royalty, blending Wyloo’s financial muscle with a significantly de-risked financial structure.
For investors, Hastings retained stake and reduced capital requirements equals a potential high-voltage opportunity. With the project poised for production in the near-term in a geopolitically critical market, Yangibana’s rare earth riches beckon.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: [email protected]
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails
Read more on The West Australian
