NorthernMinerals Ltd. revealed July 11 that the party it recently signed amemorandum ofunderstanding with for a potential off-take deal is Tokyo-basedShin-Etsu Chemical Co.Ltd.

Shin-Etsu is the largest chemical company in Japan and hasthe largest global market share for polyvinyl chloride, semiconductor siliconand photomask substrates.

The deal, which was announced in late June, is for potentialoff-take from the pilot plant at the Browns Range heavy rare earths project in WesternAustralia.