Arafura Rare Earths, in which Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting holds a significant stake, has broken ground on its $1.8 billion Nolans project in Central Australia. The ceremony took place at the site about 135 kilometres north of Alice Springs, marking the start of construction on a mine that has been in development for around two decades. Cuzzubbo said the company would build both the mine and a processing plant at the site, keeping the whole process from ore to oxide in one place.
Arafura reached its final investment decision in May 2026 and says building the mine and its processing plant will take three years. Chief executive Darryl Cuzzubbo said hundreds of workers would be needed for the construction phase. The project is designed to produce neodymium and praseodymium, two rare earths used in the magnets that drive electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence equipment.
Rinehart’s involvement sits alongside heavy government support. Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said Canberra had backed the project to the tune of $1.2 billion. Nolans was also among the projects named in the critical minerals agreement struck between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump in October 2025, a deal reported to be worth up to US$8.5 billion. Arafura has signed supply agreements with Hyundai, Kia, Siemens Gamesa and GE, giving it customers in both the car and energy industries.
The Northern Territory government says Nolans will be only the third fully integrated ore-to-oxide rare earths operation outside mainland China. It expects the mine to supply about 4 per cent of global demand for neodymium-praseodymium oxide outside China, a market where Western governments are trying to reduce reliance on Chinese processing. Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the project would reshape the critical minerals industry in the territory. For Australia, the mine is a test of whether government finance and offtake deals with foreign manufacturers can turn long-delayed rare earths projects into working operations.
The ABC’s report gave two estimates for the operation’s life, nearly 40 years in one place and more than half a century in another. Either way, the mine is set to run for decades once production begins. For Hancock Prospecting, best known for iron ore, the Nolans stake adds exposure to a mineral group that the US and Australian governments now treat as strategic, and construction progress over the next three years will determine when that investment starts to pay off.
