Rare earths miner Arafura Resources Ltd (ASX: ARU) said on Thursday that it has requested for a pre-market trading halt until September 20 pending the revelation of its new processing complex.

The announcement was made by the Perth-based company following its earlier announcement this week of a scientific breakthrough that Arafura said would enable it to isolate middle rare earth oxides from heavy oxides.

Arafura said that the technological milestone could soon place the company in a position to compete head-on with China, currently the world's main producer of rare earth materials being utilised for industrial purposes and consumer goods such as iPods, LCD televisions, hybrid cars and low-energy consuming light bulbs.

In a statement sent to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Arafura said that "the trading halt is requested pending an announcement regarding site selection for the rare earths processing complex."

Arafura managing director Dr Steve Ward said that the planned processing facility would be utilised for the production of separated rare earth oxides, which he said could give the company the opportunity to become "the pre-eminent supplier of rare earths to the world from operations wholly within Australia."

The company also noted that rare earths prices have been increasing since China slashed its export quotas in the second half of 2010 as Arafura projected that considering the upward surge in prices since December last year, yields from its Nolan site alone could easily fetch up to $US43, which could result to an annual sales revenue of up to $US860 million for Arafura.