The last 30 days have been brilliant for the share price of ASX rare earths explorer, Arafura Resources Limited (ASX: ARU).
It has gained 121% in that time, helped along by a significant grant and, possibly, its inclusion in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).
At the time of writing, the Arafura Resources share price is 43 cents, 5.56% lower than its previous close.
However, earlier today it was trading at 50 cents – a new 52-week high and representative of an 11% gain.
For context, the All Ords and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) are both up around 0.6% right now.
Let's take a look at what's been boosting the Arafura Resources share price.
Image source: Getty Images
What's driving this ASX rare earths share higher?
The Arafura share price has been taking off lately. In fact, it's only ended five sessions of the last month in the red.
Making its strong performance even more interesting, the company has only released one price-sensitive announcement in that time.
On 16 March, it announced it had been granted $30 million from the Australian Federal Government.
The funding was awarded under the government's Modern Manufacturing Initiative and will be put towards building a $90.8 million rare earths separation plant at the company's Nolans Project in the Northern Territory.
The initiative is part of a roadmap to develop Australia as a regional resources, technology, and critical minerals processing hub.
The plant will be the first of its kind in Australia and only the second to exist outside China.
Arafura Resources managing director Gavin Lockyer said the recognition of the plant's significance in Australia's future critical minerals processing abilities was "an exciting milestone" for the company.
And it's not the only ASX-listed rare earths producer to be recognised by the government lately.
Yesterday, Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU) made a final investment decision in favour of its Eneabba rare earths refinery.
The refinery was given governmental support through a risk-sharing arrangement, including a non-recourse loan.
Also potentially boosting the Arafura Resources share price lately is the company's recent inclusion in the All Ords. It moved into its new home on the benchmark index on 21 March.
As The Motley Fool Australia previously reported, that meant funds tracking the index needed to get a hold of Arafura Resources' stock prior to its inclusion.
It also opened up the company to fund managers restricted to trading within the index.
Arafura Resources share price snapshot
Right now, the Arafura share price is 85% higher than it was at the start of 2022.
It has also gained 150% since this time last year.
