Farmers have opposed the mine since it would be on prime agricultural land that could impact the region's water table and local Aboriginal people are against the development because it would disturb important cultural sites.
It's possible the present rush for the exit from coal will be matched by major oil and gas producers making a similar dash to get out of LNG in a few years time.
"While the persistence of the COVID crisis, especially in Europe, calls for careful forecasts for our business ahead, we see the rare earth market recovering very quickly," the world's largest rare earths producer outside China said.
Vale’s iron ore output totaled 68 million tonnes in 1Q21, 14.2% higher than in 1Q20, but down 5.5% compared to the 72 million tonnes average analyst estimate.