ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products has signed an offtake agreement with the mining company Rainbow Rare Earths Limited.

Under the ten-year agreement, the company from the Materials Services business area undertakes to market 5,000 tons of rare earth concentrate and downstream products such as neodymium oxide, praseodymium oxide and lanthanum oxide per year. Rare earth elements are used for example in batteries, magnets and LED screens. This offtake agreement makes the raw material trading experts the exclusive sales partner to Rainbow Rare Earths, which is engaged in the exploration and development of rare earth deposits in Burundi, East Africa.

Kai-Norman Knötsch, Chairman of the Management Board of ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products, says: “We look forward to successful cooperation with Rainbow Rare Earths. As the exclusive marketer of these high-quality products, we will have the opportunity to strengthen our customer relationships long term and gain further market share around the world.”

Martin Eales, Managing Director of Rainbow Rare Earths, adds: “We are delighted to have secured this offtake agreement with ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products. A partner of their calibre provides a strong endorsement of the project, its potential and our ability to deliver a high-quality product and we look forward to a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with them. With this offtake now in place we will continue to progress our plans with trial mining production anticipated to commence in Q4 2015.”