Critical Metals Shares Rise on Plan for $2.2B Romanian Rare Earth Refinery

Shares of Critical Metals Corp. (NASDAQ:CRML) rose 3.2% on Wednesday after the company announced plans to develop a rare earth refinery in Romania. The company projects the facility could generate approximately $2.2 billion in annual revenue by processing materials from its project in Greenland.

Project Details and Projections

According to the company's statement, the proposed joint venture facility is designed to process up to 100,000 tons per year of eudialyte concentrate from the Tanbreez Rare Earth Project. This would yield an estimated 27,943 tons per year of rare earth and critical metal products, including chloride salts.

Critical Metals provided several key financial projections based on its current modeling for the project:

• Capital Expenditure (CAPEX): An estimated $1.85 billion, with a Class 4 accuracy of +/-25%.
• Net Present Value (NPV10): Approximately $4.5 billion.
• Internal Rate of Return (IRR): An estimated 55%.
• Payback Period: Approximately two years.

Ad

Strategic Rationale and By-Products

Critical Metals said locating the refinery in Romania, a member of the European Union and NATO, is intended to support the development of a secure Western supply chain for these strategic materials. The facility will receive 50% of all concentrate produced from the Tanbreez project under an existing term sheet.

The project's economics are also supported by significant by-product revenue. The company projects the production of 25,670 tons per year of high-purity silica (SiO2) powder, which could generate an additional $600 million in annual revenue based on current modeling and assumed market prices. The company noted that its process targets a tailings stream of just 1% of feed tonnage.