📋 Tender Overview
The federal government is participating through the raw materials fund with up to 50 million euros in the Nolans project of the Australian company Arafura Rare Earths Ltd. in the Northern Territory. This strengthens the secure and diversified supply of Germany and Europe with critical rare earths and reduces existing dependencies.
The focus of the project is particularly on the rare earths neodymium and praseodymium. These are central precursors for high-performance permanent magnets which are used among other things in electric vehicles as well as in onshore and offshore wind power plants. The establishment of additional extraction and processing capacities outside existing concentrations is an important building block for greater resilience in global supply chains.
Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche:
Access to critical raw materials is crucial for our competitiveness and our technological sovereignty. Rare earths such as neodymium and praseodymium are indispensable for key technologies - from electromobility to wind power. With the raw materials fund we are therefore specifically investing in projects like Arafuras Nolans project. This secures German companies access to important raw materials makes our supply chains more resilient and strengthens the industrial base in Germany and Europe.
The Nolans project includes both the extraction of raw materials and their further processing. It thus makes an important contribution to strengthening integrated and sustainable value chains for critical raw materials.
The participation of the raw materials fund is part of the federal governments strategic raw materials policy. The aim is to secure access to critical raw materials in the long term and to strengthen the competitiveness of the German and European industry.
At the same time the commitment underscores the growing raw material and trade policy cooperation between Europe and Australia.
