Decision-making criteria in rare earths exploration projects: An interview study

When the rare earth prices skyrocketed in 2011, over 400 exploration projects appeared in the rest of the world. Before any of these exploration projects comes into production, it has to pass various stages of the project development and face multiple challenges at each of these stages. According to the Cooper’s stage-gate system, a decision about whether to move on to the next project stage should be based on the evaluation of certain criteria. The case of rare earth elements, however, differs from other metals in terms of mineralogy, market, technology, environmental issues, strategic importance etc. Therefore, the decision criteria might also partly differ. To find these criteria for the case of rare earths, interviews with decision- makers from several rare earths projects at different stages of development were conducted. In the paper, obtained criteria are listed, explained, and analysed for each stage/gate. Suggestions about their application to project management are made.