The Australian Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: AR3) share price soared 108% this morning from 25 to 52 cents. The company's share price then retreated to 45.8 cents, up 83%, before entering a trading halt.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is climbing 2.16% today.

Let's take a look at what is going on with this ASX rare earths share.

What's going on?

Australian Rare Earths shares have been placed temporarily on ice pending a further announcement.

On the weekend, news hit the media that Australian Rare earths has made a discovery that could "enable an operation of Chinese scale". The Australian noted China may also be planning to ban the export of rare earth products to the USA.

The discovery is a clay hosted rare earths resource known as the Koppamurra Project in South Australia.

As Australian Rare Earths advised last week, the JORC Mineral Resources estimate at the project has increased by 25% to 101 million tonnes at 818 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxide (TREO).

Further, the indicated resource has lifted 40% to 63 million tonnes at 839ppm TREO.

The company said this "outstanding result elevates Koppamurra to an ionic clay hosted rare earth resource of global and multigenerational significance".

The "resource is open in all directions" with a 1,400 Mt exploration target.

The company noted in a presentation this clay hosted deposit is the same style that "underpins China's massive rare earths industry".

Commenting on the discovery, acting managing director Rick Pobjoy said:

Koppamurra is one of only very few advanced ionic clay-hosted rare earth deposits located outside of China or Myanmar. The Project it is now clearly emerging as one of both scale and quality.

The company is continuing to drill at the site and plans to provide a further resource update at the end of the third quarter.

Australian Rare Earths share price snapshot

The Australian Rare Earths share price has slid 31% in the past year. However, in the last month, it has rocketed by 103%.

This ASX rare earths share has a market capitalisation of about $43 million based on the current share price.

The post Why did this ASX rare earths share just explode 100% before entering a trading halt? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Of course, fans of the sector will be aware of Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)'s US$120 million deal with the United States Department of Defense, announced on Tuesday.

But the ASX rare earths giant isn't one of the shares leaping on Thursday. Let's take a look at what's boosting these stocks higher today.

2 ASX rare earths shares going gangbusters today

Australian Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: AR3)

The Australian Rare Earths share price is launching 20% higher to trade at 42 cents on Thursday.

Interestingly, there's been no news from the rare earths explorer today. However, it did release an update on exploration activities at its flagship Koppamurra Project on Tuesday.

It announced the latest results from two recent drilling campaigns completed at the project.

They show consistent high-grade occurrences of the magnet rare earth elements across thick, near-surface intersections. That's expected to allow for expedient drilling, rapid delineation of JORC-compliant mineral resources, and future low-cost mining.

While the news saw the ASX rare earths share tumble 8.3% on Tuesday, it's possible that it's helping to contribute to today's gains.

American Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARR)

The American Rare Earths share price is also leaping upwards today, gaining 25% to trade at 27.5 cents.

Tuesday also saw assay results released by American Rare Earths. The stock tumbled 5.4% on the release and a further 15.4% on Wednesday. That's despite the results depicting a potentially exciting future for the ASX rare earth share.

Of 667 samples from the company's La Paz project, located in Arizona, 332 were found to have rock type associated with higher rare earth grades, while two drill holes showed extensive rare earth enrichment.

American Rare Earths CEO and managing director Chris Gibbs said the results showed the project's southwest zone could expand its JORC resource.

"An upgrade [to the JORC resource] gives La Paz the potential to be one of the largest rare earths projects in North America," said Gibbs.

The post Guess which 2 ASX rare earths shares are going gangbusters today. Hint: They're not Lynas appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The rare earths producer's shares were up a further 9% to a record high of 60 cents before pulling back.

When the Australian Rare Earths share price reached that level, it meant it had doubled in value since completing its IPO on Thursday.

The Australian Rare Earths IPO

Australian Rare Earths listed on the Australian share market on Thursday after raising $12 million at $0.30 cents via an oversubscribed IPO. The company notes that well-known institutions and sophisticated investors across Australia and internationally took part in the IPO.

This gave Australian Rare Earths a market capitalisation of $33 million at listing and $66 million at today's peak.

The Koppamurra Project

The funds raised through the IPO will be used to support key work activities at the company's flagship Koppamurra Project, located in South Australia and Victoria.

The Koppamurra Project is Australia's largest prospective ionic clay hosted rare earth element (REE) deposit. Management notes that it has already had significant exploration success at Koppamurra through the discovery of the Red Tail and Yellow Tail deposits. This culminated in the declaration of a maiden JORC 2021 Inferred Mineral Resource of 39.9Mt @ 725ppm TREO.

Positively, the success of its first drilling campaign was obtained from drilling of less than 5% of the granted Project area. Furthermore, the grade is comparable with projects and operations found in southern China, the current major source of heavy rare earths globally.

Non-Executive Chairman, Professor Dudley Kingsnorth, said: "The AR3 team are proud to commence trading on the ASX as we continue to progress our exciting, flagship Koppamurra project."

"Koppamurra is Australia's only prospective ionic clay hosted REE deposit and one of only two exchange listed opportunities globally. The Company is focused on executing our growth strategy to ensure AR3 is in a position to become a strategic, independent and sustainable source of HREEs, which will play a critical role in the transition to green economies globally," he added.

The post Australian Rare Earths (ASX:AR3) share price up 100% in 2 days after IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.