Canada's Hudson Resources seeks rare earth project partner to capitalise on trade war

AnorTech

30/05/2019 17:27

TORONTO, May 30 (Reuters) - Canadian Hudson Resources
 HUD.V  said on Thursday it is in talks with several parties
about potentially partnering on its rare earth mining project in
Greenland to take advantage of demand stemming from trade
tensions between the U.S. and China.
    The Vancouver-based company is seeking a partner to advance
the Sarfartoq project, which holds neodymium and praseodymium
deposits, to capitalise on increased interest in supplies of
rare earth elements that do not originate in China, it said in a
regulatory filing.
    As trade tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated,
Beijing has hinted it may use its dominant position as a
supplier of rare earths for leverage.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2360M2
    Shares of thinly-traded Hudson rose as much as 9 percent on
the Toronto venture exchange, and were up 2.6 percent at 40
Canadian cents in late morning trade giving it a market value of
C$71 million ($52.56 million).
    The trade tensions have also boosted other tiny Canadian
rare earth metal explorers, which are largely seen as
speculative plays. 
    Avalon Advanced Materials Inc  AVL.TO  jumped 28% to a
20-month high, while Critical Elements Corp.  CRE.V  advanced
28% on Wednesday and remained close to that level on Thursday.
Ucore Rare Metals  UCU.V  shares have nearly doubled in the last
two days.
    Hudson is focused on production at White Mountain, its
anorthosite mine, also in Greenland, but wants to continue to
move the Sarfartoq project forward, President Jim Cambon said in
the statement, adding the company is open to discussions with
other interested parties.
    With efforts to build rare earth processing plants in the
United States still in the early stages, China currently
accounts for 80% of U.S. imports of the group of 17 minerals
used in military equipment and high-tech consumer electronics. 
    Major U.S. companies from defense firms Raytheon Co  RTN.N 
and Lockheed Martin Corp  LMT.N  to consumer electronics
companies like Apple Inc  AAPL.O  use rare earth elements in
their products.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N236017  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N23606C
($1 = 1.3508 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting By Nichola Saminather
Editing by Alistair Bell)
 ((Nichola.Saminather@thomsonreuters.com; +1-416-687-7604;))