Summary of the
article A stockpile of monazite sand in Western Australia, which was considered worthless in the 1990s, is now worth over $1 billion due to the rising demand for rare earths.
The monazite sand is being stockpiled by Iluka Resources, which is building a refinery to turn it into separated rare earth oxides.
The refinery is expected to be commissioned before Christmas 2025 and will help Australia to reduce its reliance on China for rare earths.
The project has revived the industrial hub of Eneabba, which had witnessed only rehabilitation work in the decade since Iluka ceased mining mineral sands at the site in 2013.
The success of the project is due to the foresight of the person or team who decided to stockpile the monazite sand in the 1990s.
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https://www.afr.com/companies/mining...0230811-p5dvwp