Australian mining company Hastings Technology Metals has closed its acquisition of a 19.9% stake in Neo Performance Materials for C$134.6m ($97m).

Under a share purchase agreement signed in August with an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management, Hastings’ wholly-owned arm HTM Investments (One) bought 8.97 million common shares in Neo.

Neo is engaged in the downstream processing of rare earth elements and the production of advanced materials, including permanent magnets.

The deal offers Hastings exposure to Neo’s magnetic materials business, as well as providing a platform to explore potential partnership arrangements.

At the time of signing the share purchase agreement, Hastings executive chairman Charles Lew said: “The acquisition of the Neo stake represents an important strategic milestone for Hastings, providing the Company and its shareholders with a unique opportunity to take further steps towards realising the Hastings 2.0 strategy.”

Hastings said that neither it nor HTM Investments had plans to buy any more Neo shares.

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Based on the market and other conditions, one of the businesses could buy further Neo common shares in the future.

They could also sell shares via market transactions, public offerings, private agreements or other means.

Hastings currently owns two major resources in Western Australia, namely the Yangibana and Brockman projects.

Covering an area of around 650km², the Yangibana project is located in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region and holds substantial Neodymium and Praseodymium resources.

The Brockman project comprises mining lease applications covering ten prospecting licences and one exploration licence.

It is located 18km south-east of the historical gold mining centre of Halls Creek in the East Kimberley Region.

Earlier this year, Hastings agreed to buy a 30% stake in the Yangibana joint venture tenements for A$9m ($6.2m).

The company will have a 100% stake across the complete Yangibana rare earth tenement package following the acquisition.