So while things might be tough for the ASX-focussed rare earths...

So while things might be tough for the ASX-focussed rare earths stocks at the moment, the broad expectation is that things could be looking a lot better in the second half of the year, certainly in years to come.

That has been coming through in the sharp share price response in the market to positive news from the explorers in recent weeks, most notably American Rare Earths (ARR) and Red Metal (RDM).

ARR has shot from 13.5c to 30c mid-week for a $132 million market cap in response to its February 7 announcement of an increase in the resource at its Halleck Creek project in Wyoming to 2.34 billion tonnes grading 3,196ppm total rare earth oxides.

It is a disseminated rare earths deposit that AAR reckons could be amenable to direct acid leaching in tanks at lower than usual temperature. A scoping study is not far off and given its scale and US address, it has clearly got the market interest up.