Australia's Hastings to negotiate offtake deal with Ucore for Yangibana project

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Australia's Hastings Technology Metals HAS.AX said on Friday its Yangibana joint venture project in Western Australia has agreed to negotiate for a potential offtake deal with North American rare-earths processing company Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

The Yangibana rare-earths and niobium project is a joint venture with Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest's Wyloo Metals, which holds a 60% stake, and rare-earths developer Hastings, which owns the remaining 40% through its subsidiary, Yangibana Jubilee.

"The joint evaluation of a downstream Hydromet plant in the U.S. demonstrates the efforts by Wyloo, Ucore and Hastings to access the financing and commercial opportunities arising from the recently announced rare-earths deal by the U.S. and Australian governments to jointly support "ready to go" projects," said Hastings CEO Vince Catania.

The potential deal covers up to 37,000 tons a year of Yangibana's high-grade rare-earth concentrate, while both parties assess the feasibility of building a downstream hydrometallurgy plant in Louisiana.

The parties will work towards executing a definitive agreement, which is expected to be finalised after June 2026, Hastings said in a statement.

Shares of the Australian rare-earths developer rose as much as 19.3% to A$0.68, set for their strongest session in more than a week, if the current momentum persists.