Aug 12 (Reuters) - Australian rare earths miner NorthernMinerals Ltd on Monday said it was in negotiations witha Chinese entity for a A$20 million ($13.53 million) investment.
The company said it would make a private placement of sharesto the entity at about A$0.062 per share if the transaction wasapproved by the board.
The miner also said it was in talks with other parties foran investment, although no substantial progress had been made insuch talks.
China is the world's largest rare earth producer and thereis increasing concern that the country may limit its exports ofthe minerals as a negotiating tactic in its trade dispute withthe United States.
Rare earth minerals such as neodymium and praseodymium arein high demand due to their use in a wide variety of industrialand electronic applications.
Lynas Corp, the largest rare earths produceroutside China, has seen its stock price surge some 82% this yearowing to Sino-U.S. trade tensions.
Earlier in the day, Northern Minerals signed a rare earthssupply agreement with German industrial producer Thyssenkrupp AG, just a few days after it cancelled a supply deal withChina's Lianyugang Zeyu New Materials Sales Co Ltd.
($1 = 1.4786 Australian dollars)(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; editing by ChristianSchmollinger)