It is no secret that rare earth elements are becoming a hot commodity thanks to their usage in the manufacture of hybrid cars, iPhones, televisions, and even cancer drugs.
Growth opportunities for the companies who are mining and manufacturing these precious minerals are boundless, with all research suggesting demand for these elements will rocket as rare earth supplies become in demand.
Investors looking to beat the market in this sector should keep a close eye on these two emerging rare earth companies, despite the fact they remain high risk.
Arafura Resources Limited (ASX: ARU)
Mineral exploration company Arafura Resources, with its flagship Nolan's Rare Earths Project, has a strong focus on neodymium-praseodynium (NdPr) – used in the automotive, portable electronics, clean energy, aerospace and healthcare sectors.
Arafura opened up 5% at 10.5c a share today, about the same price it was a year ago, with a few short surges up to 15c noted last October and a 2018 high of 14c in mid-January.
Arafura's quarterly activities report, released in January, detailed the company had completed an environmental impact assessment for the Nolan's NdPr project – a key milestone in the advancement towards a final investment decision.
The Nolan project still has two more components of approval in the works, but Arafura has named it as one of the largest and richest deposits of NdPr in the world with the company aiming to meet 5%-10% of global demand for the rare element.
Arafura announced an institutional investor placement of $3.17 million has helped to boost its cash position at end December 2017 to $12.7 million.
Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited (ASX: GGG)
Exploration and development company Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited has a focus on the Kvanefjeld multi element project, with rare earth elements, uranium and zinc on its radar.
Greenland's share price opened at 0.089c today, with the share price being on a fairly steady slide in the past 12 months from a February 2017 high of 19c per share.
It's January 31 released activities report for the quarter to December 31 2017 highlighted good results from the company's collaborative optimisation program with Shanghai stock exchange's Shenghe Resource Holdings Co Ltd.
Greenland is very much focused on its growth strategy with a successful capital raising from Asian and Australian institutional investors pouring in $10.25 million before costs.
