Highlights

• Sovereign Metals reports Kasiya monazite concentrate with a strong heavy-REE signature (21.8% NdPr, 2.9% DyTb), though separation yields and radioactivity management remain unproven challenges.
• St George Mining extends Araxá strategic alliance to one year for deeper metallurgical testing, with a potential 40% offtake concept highlighting Brazil's rare earth development momentum.
• Non-Chinese critical minerals projects face a decisive execution hurdle: geological promise must survive the triad of separation, refining, and magnet-grade qualification to shift markets.

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A trio of project updates—from Malawi, Alaska, and Brazil—offers a compact snapshot of how the non-Chinese or “ex-China” critical-minerals pipeline is evolving: discovery is rising, metallurgy is grinding, and capital is still choosy.

Malawi’s Kasiya: Monazite with a Heavy Accent

Sovereign Metals (opens in a new tab) (ASX.SVM) says it has recovered rare-earth–bearing monazite concentrate at its Kasiya project in Malawi—better known to investors as a rutile and graphite story. Early analyses suggest a standout mix of magnet-relevant elements, with reported averages of ~21.8% NdPr, 2.9% DyTb, and 11.9% yttrium in the monazite concentrate. The company argues this heavy-REE signature compares favorably with leading global producers.

What’s sturdy: monazite can indeed carry meaningful heavy rare earths; the signal is plausible.

What’s not proven: grades in a concentrate are not the same as recoverable separated oxides. Radioactivity management, separation yields, reagent intensity, and downstream qualification decide whether this becomes a by-product jewel—or just a footnote.

Alaska’s Estelle: Gold, Not Rare Earths—But Money Has One Wallet

Nova Minerals (opens in a new tab) (NVA) reported shallow RC drilling at Korbel (Estelle project), indicating potential for a higher-grade starter pit, with intercepts including 19m @ 0.6 g/t Au from surface (incl. 6m @ 1.0 g/t), and 9m @ 1.2 g/t Au from 1m. Not rare earths—but it matters: gold competes for the same speculative capital juniors rely on.

Brazil’s Araxá: The Quiet Religion of Flowsheets

St George Mining (opens in a new tab) (ASX: SGQ) extended its strategic alliance timeline with REAlloys (opens in a new tab) from 120 days to one year, explicitly to enable deeper metallurgical testing and flowsheet development on Araxá rare earth samples—where “success” is measured in separation performance, not headlines. Coverage indicates a potential long-term offtake concept could reach up to 40% of production, but this remains developmental.

The Investor Throughline

Cited via the China Rare Earth Industry Association, the item captures genuine momentum—but, like many such roundups, it privileges geology over execution. Kasiya is geologically compelling. Araxá is strategically well-timed. Neither, however, shifts the market absent the same unforgiving triad: separation, refining, and magnet-grade qualification. That constraint remains decisive