In this new episode, we chat with George Bennett, CEO of Rainbow Rare Earths, who aims to be a forerunner in the establishment of an independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth elements that are driving the green energy transition with projects in South Africa, East Africa, and Brazil.

George has over 25 years of experience in mining, finance, and management, leading a number of mining companies including Shanta Gold and OreCorp, and also established DMD Engineering which built mineral processing plants and mine infrastructure before selling this to Foster Wheeler. He gives us an overview of Rainbow Rare Earths, what they have achieved to date, and where he is going to take the company moving forward.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Rainbow Rare Earths aims to establish an independent and ethical supply chain of rare earth elements driving the green energy transition.
• George Bennet, with his extensive experience in mining finance and management, leads Rainbow Rare Earths with a strong team including key technical director Dave and chief metallurgist Chris.
• Rainbow Rare Earths is developing projects in South Africa, East Africa, and Brazil, focusing on extracting rare earths from phosphogypsum stacks with high-grade rare earths.
• The US government's Development Finance Corporation has earmarked $50 million for equity financing into Rainbow's Phalaborwa project, showcasing strong support for the company.
• Rainbow Rare Earths anticipates profitability even in the current market conditions, with plans for production to start in late 2026 and a strong focus on building an independent supply chain outside of China.

BEST MOMENTS

"We are very keen on trying to build this independent supply chain outside of China."

"We believe we'll be the lowest OPEX cost of any project in the world, even below the Chinese, apparently." 

"We've also seen a slight slowdown in wind turbine generation. Once again, that will have to pick up quite strongly to meet those demands." 

"We believe that subsidies will have to come back in from European and even US governments to drive this take-up of EVs." 

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Mail:        rob@mining-international.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

X:              https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast 

Web:        http://www.mining-international.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rainbow-rare-earths/ 

X: https://twitter.com/RainbowREarths 

Website: www.rainbowrareearths.com

Email: cathym@rainbowrareearths.com  | rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

rob@mining-international.org

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

Podcast Description

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.