** Australian rare earth miners Lynas LYC.AX, Iluka ILU.AX, Arafura ARU.AX, Northern Minerals NTU.AX and Hastings Technology Metals HAS.AX fall between 3.1% and 9.9%

** Mining subindex .AXMM down 1.1%, with LYC and ILU being top drag

** The Trump administration is retreating from plans to guarantee minimum prices for U.S. critical minerals projects, acknowledging funding shortfalls and complexities of setting market benchmarks, sources told Reuters

** Separately, ILU flagged a non‑cash impairment charge of about A$350 million ($246.19 million) before tax for the segment, to be recognised in its final 2025 results

** LYC, NTU and HAS have jumped between 3.3% and 17.7% this month, while ILU and ARU have slipped 5.4% and 7.4%, respectively

($1 = 1.4217 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru)

((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk http://www.x.com/thatstanishk;))