Global yttrium crunch lifts Australian producers

Global supplies of yttrium are tightening as Chinese export controls curb the flow of the critical rare earth, triggering steep price rises and mounting concerns across aerospace, energy and semiconductor supply chains.

China’s April decision to restrict exports of yttrium and six other rare earths in retaliation for US tariffs has left traders struggling to secure material despite Beijing pausing some broader curbs. Prices for yttrium has jumped to $270 per kilogram, a staggering 4400 per cent increase since January.

“At present, our supply chain depends heavily on imports from China, a reliance that has contributed to rising costs amid growing shortages,” Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) vice president Dak Hardwick told Reuters.

As US imports from China have fallen to zero, attention is turning to alternative producers. This supply squeeze is sharpening interest in advanced rare earth projects.

Victory Metals’ North Stanmore project in Western Australia is rapidly emerging as one of the most significant heavy rare earth discoveries in the world, boasting heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) to total rare earth oxides (TREO) ratios as high as 83 per cent. European ex China prices for yttrium have surged up to 800 per cent since Victory’s scoping study.

“This is purely what sets North Stanmore apart as a clay-hosted rare earth project,” Victory chief executive officer Brendan Clark said. “Heavy rare earths are what the western world needs to secure.”

Victory is reshaping its pre-feasibility study to focus on its highest-grade zones while expanding its inventory through a 10,000 metre drill program already returning standout yttrium-rich intercepts.

“With dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, scandium, hafnium, lutetium and thulium all confirmed in meaningful quantities, Victory is emerging as a globally significant heavy rare earth and strategic metal supplier,” Clark said.