Arafura Resources says it is looking to raise 750-million dollars during the next year and a half for a mining project at Alice Springs.

The company has licences for exploration and development at Reynolds Range, north of Alice Springs, including the Nolans Bore rare earths mine.

The general manager of project development Steve Mackowski says it will be a challenge to raise the money, but Arafura's products are in high demand

"We're going through pilot plant operations in New South Wales and we're also undergoing a bankable feasibility study so our spend over the next 12 to 18 months is going to be in the vicinity of 30 to 40 million dollars and we'll use conventional means to get those sorts of funds."

Steve Mackowski says despite the current economic uncertainty in global markets it won't be a problem to raise the money.

"In the marketplace at the moment with money it's the same as it always is, a good project's a good project, a poor project's a poor project, the fundamentals of the rare earths business of the phosphate business which is the core of the Arafura project are both very very much in vogue at the moment and they've got a very very good future."

In this report: Steve Mackowski, general manager of project development at Arafura Resources