Rainbow Rare Earths Will Start Phalaborwa Output by 2029
The South African project aims to secure long-term rare earth supplies via a new US stock market listing.
Updated on Oct. 5, 2026 in Quantum Computing
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Rainbow Rare Earths has deferred initial production at its Phalaborwa site in Limpopo, South Africa, until early 2029. The mining company is now targeting a 2027 US stock market listing to help fund the facility.
Why it matters
Securing a US listing is intended to raise equity at a higher valuation and limit shareholder dilution for the development. This move follows a $50 million funding commitment from the US International Development Finance Corporation.
The Phalaborwa project will extract rare earths from phosphogypsum. Neo Performance Materials has agreed to off-take 40% of neodymium-praseodymium and 65% of heavy rare earth production.
The players
Rainbow Rare Earths
A mining company currently listed on the London Stock Exchange that extracts rare earths from phosphogypsum.
Neo Performance Materials
A processor of rare earth materials that has secured a significant off-take agreement for Phalaborwa production.
US International Development Finance Corporation
A US government agency that committed $50 million toward the construction funding for the Phalaborwa project.
Mosaic
A fertilizer producer and joint venture partner with Rainbow Rare Earths for the Uberaba project in Brazil.
The details
Rainbow Rare Earths processes phosphogypsum — a byproduct of fertilizer production often containing radioactive elements — to recover rare earth elements. The company is actively negotiating sales agreements to guarantee that 80% of total output is pre-sold, which is a requirement for securing project debt financing. Separately, the company has initiated a pre-feasibility study for the Uberaba project in Brazil, a joint venture where Mosaic holds 51% ownership and Rainbow holds 49%.
Timeline
September 2026: Provisional offtake agreement signed with Neo Performance Materials.
Q4 2026: Planned publication of Phalaborwa pre-feasibility study.
H1 2027: Planned publication of Phalaborwa definitive feasibility study.
2027: Potential US stock market listing date.
Early 2029: Targeted start of Phalaborwa production.
The Tech Race
Rainbow Rare Earths is positioning its Limpopo assets to compete in a supply chain currently dominated by integrated mining interests in China. The company's push for a US listing mirrors a broader sector trend of seeking Western capital to finance critical mineral projects.
Production timelines remain speculative until the completion of the definitive feasibility study in 2027. Investors and downstream industry partners should track the company's progress on meeting its 80% production coverage target for debt financing.
The takeaway
Securing long-term offtake agreements with partners like Neo Performance Materials is the critical milestone that will determine the viability of the project's financing. Readers should watch for the definitive feasibility study results in the first half of 2027 as a key indicator of production readiness.
What happens next
The company expects to publish a pre-feasibility study for the Phalaborwa project in Q4 2026, followed by a definitive feasibility study in the first half of 2027.
Further reading
For more on the broader landscape of mineral-dependent hardware, visit /tech/quantum-computing/.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Miningmx.
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