Top 8 ASX rare earth stocks to watch in 2026

Rare earth elements are a group of metals used in permanent magnets, defence technology and clean energy applications – found inside EV motors, wind turbines and military radar systems. The eight stocks on this list include projects across Australia, Brazil and Malawi, and Lynas Rare Earths ($LYC) has a market cap more than five times that of Iluka Resources ($ILU), the second-largest on this list.

How we built this list: We selected these companies based on their industry. Prices are updated daily, and the list and supporting content are reviewed roughly every quarter. All data is sourced from Stake. This list isn't a recommendation and isn't ordered by suitability.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Source: Stake market data. Figures in A$. Data updated as of 10 August 2026.

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1. Meteoric Resources ($MEI)

Meteoric Resources (MEI) share price over the last year: started at A$0.15, ended at A$0.20, a change of +33.3%. Range over the period: high A$0.26, low A$0.12. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $0.20 · Daily: 0.0% · Market cap: $581.3M · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Meteoric Resources ($MEI) is an Australian company building a rare earths project from scratch in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The Caldeira Rare Earths Project covers more than 193 square kilometres across roughly 77 mining and exploration licences, sitting in the southwest of the state between the towns of Caldas, Poços de Caldas and Andradas.

The project's location puts it about 254 kilometres from São Paulo and around 350 kilometres from the port of Santos – proximity that matters for any future logistics chain. Chief Executive Stuart Gale leads the company as it moves through the development phase at Caldeira.

2. Australian Strategic Materials ($ASM)

Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) share price over the last year: started at A$0.58, ended at A$1.22, a change of +109.5%. Range over the period: high A$2.00, low A$0.53. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $1.22 · Daily: 9.5% · Market cap: $330.2M · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Australian Strategic Materials ($ASM) takes a different approach to critical metals than a pure-play miner. The company extracts, refines and manufactures high-purity metals and alloys, aiming to supply directly to global technology manufacturers rather than selling raw ore. Its patented processing technology underpins that vertical model, according to the company.

$ASM's operating Korean Metals Plant sits in Ochang, South Korea, where it produces neodymium and neodymium iron boron alloys – materials used in the permanent magnets found in EV motors and wind turbines. This gives the company a processing footprint outside Australia while its flagship resource project is still in development.

The Dubbo Project, located near the town of Toongi in central-western New South Wales, holds rare earths alongside zirconium, niobium and hafnium. That mix of critical materials is broader than a single-element deposit, though the project remains at the evaluation and feasibility stage. CEO Rowena Smith leads the business as it works toward bringing Dubbo closer to a production decision.

3. Northern Minerals ($NTU)

Northern Minerals (NTU) share price over the last year: started at A$0.035, ended at A$0.027, a change of −22.9%. Range over the period: high A$0.07, low A$0.023. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $0.027 · Daily: 3.8% · Market cap: $257.7M · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Northern Minerals ($NTU) is focused on a cluster of tenement groups across remote Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with the Browns Range Project as its centrepiece. That project sits roughly 160 kilometres south-east of Halls Creek on the northern edge of the Tanami Desert, and it holds the company's primary target: heavy rare earth elements, specifically dysprosium and terbium.

Dysprosium and terbium are used in permanent magnets, which go into EV motors and wind turbine generators. $NTU holds 100% of the Browns Range Project and is at the exploration stage. CEO Shane Hartwig leads the company as it also advances several other tenement areas, including the John Galt Project in East Kimberley and Boulder Ridge to the south of Browns Range.

Because $NTU is an exploration company rather than a producer, it doesn't generate revenue from selling rare earths yet. Progress depends on exploration results, permitting and financing – all of which carry the risks typical of early-stage resource development.

4. Lynas Rare Earths ($LYC)

Lynas Rare Earths (LYC) share price over the last year: started at A$13.21, ended at A$16.50, a change of +24.9%. Range over the period: high A$22.07, low A$12.19. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $16.50 · Daily: 1.5% · Market cap: $16.61B · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Mt Weld in Western Australia is where Lynas Rare Earths ($LYC) extracts its rare earth minerals. The end product is neodymium-praseodymium oxide – NdPr oxide – used in permanent magnets for electric motors and wind turbines. $LYC is expanding that operation toward a production target of 12,000 tonnes per annum of NdPr oxide.

Kalgoorlie converts the rare earths concentrate into Mixed Rare Earths Carbonate. That material then ships to the Lynas Malaysia plant near Kuantan – a 100-hectare facility in the Gebeng Industrial Estate – for separation into individual products. $LYC also has operations in the U.S. under the Lynas USA name.

5. Iluka Resources Limited ($ILU)

Iluka Resources Limited (ILU) share price over the last year: started at A$6.01, ended at A$7.35, a change of +22.3%. Range over the period: high A$9.28, low A$4.94. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $7.35 · Daily: 3.8% · Market cap: $3.17B · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Rare earth minerals are just one part of what Iluka Resources Limited ($ILU) produces. The company mines and processes titanium dioxide feedstocks and zircon products alongside its rare earth output. Operations run across Jacinth-Ambrosia in South Australia, Cataby in Western Australia and Balranald in New South Wales, with processing handled at the Narngulu mineral separation plant and Synthetic Rutile Kilns in Western Australia.

The rare earths segment centres on the Eneabba Rare Earths Refinery, currently under construction in Western Australia, along with Phase I and II of the broader Eneabba development. $ILU also holds an investment in Northern Minerals Limited as part of that program. CEO Tom O'Leary leads a 909-person workforce spread across these operations.

6. Lindian Resources ($LIN)

Lindian Resources (LIN) share price over the last year: started at A$0.19, ended at A$0.83, a change of +345.9%. Range over the period: high A$1.01, low A$0.19. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $0.83 · Daily: 18.3% · Market cap: $1.53B · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Lindian Resources ($LIN) is advancing the Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi, a deposit located about 90 kilometres north of Blantyre. The company describes the deposit as containing high grade rare earths with low impurities and minimal radioactivity.

$LIN also holds bauxite projects across Guinea and Tanzania. The Guinea assets sit within the Boke Bauxite Belt, and the Tanzanian portfolio covers more than eight tenements in eastern Tanzania's Mozambique Belt – putting the company across two quite different commodity types at the exploration and development stage.

7. Arafura Rare Earths ($ARU)

Arafura Rare Earths (ARU) share price over the last year: started at A$0.21, ended at A$0.21, a change of +2.4%. Range over the period: high A$0.48, low A$0.18. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $0.21 · Daily: 7.7% · Market cap: $1.28B · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Arafura Rare Earths ($ARU) is developing the Nolans Project, a mine and processing complex about 135 kilometres north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The project is designed to produce two rare earth products: Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) oxide and a mixed middle-heavy rare earth oxide known as SEG/HRE.

NdPr oxide is the Nolans Project's flagship output, sold to magnet and magnet alloy makers. Those magnets end up inside EV motors and wind turbine generators, as well as consumer electronics and other applications where permanent magnets are needed. CEO Darryl Cuzzubbo leads the company as it works to bring Nolans into production.

8. Brazilian Rare Earths ($BRE)

Brazilian Rare Earths (BRE) share price over the last year: started at A$2.27, ended at A$4.24, a change of +86.8%. Range over the period: high A$6.61, low A$2.00. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $4.24 · Daily: -2.5% · Market cap: $1.19B · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Metals & Mining

Brazilian Rare Earths Limited ($BRE) focuses entirely on exploring for rare earth elements and other critical minerals in Brazil's Bahia state. The Rocha da Rocha Project sits at the centre of that work – a province covering over one million acres of exploration ground, with more than 267 granted exploration permits registered with Brazil's National Mining Agency.

The company also holds the Amargosa Bauxite-Gallium Project and the Sulista Project area, both in Bahia. Bernardo da Veiga leads the company as it works across what it describes as a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction, though all assets remain at exploration stage.

Common questions

How can you invest in ASX rare earth stocks in Australia?

All eight companies in this list trade on the ASX, so you can buy shares through any brokerage platform that offers ASX access. Each stock represents one company's specific project, location and development stage rather than the rare earths theme as a whole.

What are the key risks of ASX rare earth stocks?

Rare earth prices are set on global markets and can shift significantly, which flows directly through to project economics. Most companies in this list are at exploration or development stage, so they rely on external capital and face real uncertainty around timelines, costs and permitting. Projects here are spread across Australia, Brazil, Malawi and Korea, meaning currency movements and country-specific regulatory environments add further complexity. Processing rare earths also requires specialist infrastructure that isn't uniformly available globally, which can affect a project's path to market.

What separates rare earth explorers from developers and producers?

Stage matters because it determines whether a company is generating revenue, spending toward construction, or still proving up a resource. Explorers are defining what's in the ground; developers have a resource and are working through feasibility, permitting or construction; producers have operating assets and are selling product. In this list, $LYC mines and processes rare earths across sites in Australia and Malaysia, while companies like $ARU and $MEI are advancing defined projects toward production, and others are still characterising their resources. Earlier-stage companies carry more uncertainty around funding, cost and schedule.

Do all the companies here focus on the same rare earth elements?

The companies here don't all target the same elements. Most projects are centred on neodymium and praseodymium – NdPr – which go into permanent magnets for electric motors and wind turbines. $NTU's Browns Range Project specifically targets heavy rare earths, dysprosium and terbium, which are distinct elements used in high-performance magnet applications and priced separately from NdPr.

Disclaimer

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. When you invest, your capital is at risk. You should consider your own investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making an investment decision. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may receive back less than your original investment. As always, do your own research and consider seeking appropriate financial advice before investing.

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