The Arafura Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARU) share price is on hold today.
Arafura shares were put on ice before market open today and are worth 30.5 cents a piece. In today's trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.17%.
Let's take a look at what this ASX rare earths explorer reported to the market this morning.
Trading halt
Arafura is exploring the neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) rare earths project in the Northern Territory.
In today's news, Arafura has requested a trading halt pending an announcement.
While the details of this announcement are not certain, Arafura has provided a potential clue in its announcement to the ASX today.
Arafura said the news relates to an "offtake agreement". The company has requested the trading halt remains until this announcement or the start of trading on 8 November.
Arafura said:
The company is seeking a trading halt pending an announcement to the market regarding execution of a binding offtake agreement (MoU).
Arafura recently presented at a rare earths conference at the Australian National University.
The company said Nolans is the only NdPR project in Australia that plans to "mine and process ore to oxide at a single site".
The wind turbine and electric vehicle (EV) markets are "competing for NdPR", according to Arafura.
The company already has MOU's with Hyundai Motor Corporation and GE Renewable Energy.
Arafura share price snapshot
The Arafura share price has surged almost 36% in the past year, while it has leapt 45% year to date.
In the past month, Arafura shares slipped 1.61%.
This ASX 300 rare earths has a market capitalisation of about $526.9 million based on the current share price.
