25/01/03
Western RE refining projects attempt 2025 push
London, 3 January (Argus) — Attempts to establish commercial-scale rare earth
separation and processing outside China are growing in number and progressing
gradually with a view to ramping up output over the next two years. Mineral
resources developers are scrambling to reassess and upgrade their estimates of
mineable rare earth element (REE) content as western governments attempt to
encourage producers to establish production closer to home. And new efforts to
develop high-volume processing capacity outside China — which currently accounts
for more than 80pc of global refining — are emerging. Western countries are well
behind China in advancing technical processes to refine REs from raw materials,
as they seek alternatives to the highly polluting solvent extraction process.
But with China banning the export of RE extraction and separation technologies
in December 2023, as well as exports to the US of key electronic metals in
December 2024, the impetus is growing to come up with viable Western production.
RE oxides are used in the manufacturing of permanent magnets for electric
vehicle (EV) motors, wind turbines and electronics, as well as batteries,
lasers, metal alloys, medical devices and military equipment. Given that latter
application, the US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded more than $439mn in
financing since 2020 to support a new domestic supply chain, from the separation
and refining of materials mined in the US to downstream production of magnets.
In a broader trend towards "friendshoring" of critical material supply, the DoD
considers Canada, Australia and the UK as domestic suppliers. In December alone,
several western companies announced progress in their plans to build production
capacity. Northeast Wyoming in the US has one of the highest-grade deposits in
North America, which firms such as Wyoming Rare USA and Rare Element Resources
are looking to develop. Other projects in the US include ReElement Technologies
in Indiana, Rainbow Rare Earths in Florida and Lynas in Texas. Energy Fuels in
Utah and Phoenix Tailings in Massachusetts are in production, ramping up volumes
to meet market demand. These facilities would spread the supply chain across the
US, expanding from MP Materials in California, which has previously been the
only commercial-scale facility in the country. In Canada, developer Ucore Rare
Metals in December received a payment of $1.8mn from the US DoD, part of a $4mn
award to conduct REE separation work at the company's RapidSX commercial
demonstration facility in Kingston, Ontario. Ucore is also developing its
flagship project, the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex, in a foreign trade
zone it said will provide an advantage if the incoming Trump administration
implements tariffs and other trade measures. Reflecting the competition between
countries for limited processing capacity, Ucore said it intends to continue the
DoD project in the first half of 2025 and then turn to completing its C$4.28mn
light REE demonstration project with the Government of Canada. Canada is home to
one of the first in the wave of new western producers, as the government-backed
Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) started producing neodymium-praseodymium
(NdPr) metal during the summer. Like the US, European countries are also
targeting domestic production in a bid to secure their supply chains. Projects
include the expansion of Nd and NdPr processing capacity at UK-based Less Common
Metals (LCM), the addition of NdPr production at Belgian chemical group Solvay
at its plant in France in 2025 and French consultancy Carestar's plan to start
production in 2026 of RE oxides from mining concentrates and, later, recycled
magnets. REEtec in Norway plans to start a commercial NdPr plant in 2025 and
Swedish state-owned LKAB plans to start an RE oxide demonstration plant by the
end of 2026. These initiatives are in line with plans across Europe to increase
EV manufacturing and renewable energy. Rare earth mining projects in Africa and
Australia are largely targeting supply deals or integrated production in Asia or
North America. Miners in Brazil, such as Aclara, are also planning integrated
production by developing separation plants close to demand in the US and Europe.
By Nicole Willing Key projects outside of China Producer Location Production
status Refined rare earth elements American Resources Noblesville, Indiana, US
In development, refining achieved at validation facility Terbium (Tb),
Dysprosium (Dy), Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr) Lynas Corporation Kuantan,
Malaysia; Kalgoorlie, Australia; Texas, US Operational (Malaysia, Australia); In
development (Texas) Dy, Tb, NdPr, Samarium (Sm), Europium (Eu), Gadolinium (Gd),
Holmium (Ho) Phoenix Tailings Burlington, Massachusetts, US Operational (heavy
and light rare earth metals) Dy, Tb, NdPr Rare Element Resources Upton, Wyoming,
US Demonstration plant operational Light and heavy REs Energy Fuels White Mesa
Mill, Utah, US Operational, Phase 1 commissioned NdPr; Dy, Tb to come Ucore Rare
Metals Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Alexandria, Louisiana, US Demonstration plant
operational; Louisiana facility planned for 2025 start Light and heavy REs
Aclara Resources Goiás, Brazil; Bio-Bio, Chile; US (separation plant) In
development Heavy REs (Dy, Tb); NdPr in US Ionic Rare Earths Belfast, UK; Minas
Gerais, Brazil In development Recycled oxides (e.g., NdPr, Dy, Tb) Pensana Plc
Saltend, UK; Longonjo, Angola Under construction Mixed RE carbonate, magnet
metals (NdPr, Dy, Tb) Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) Saskatchewan, Canada
Operational (commercial scale) NdPr Iluka Resources Eneabba, Western Australia
Under construction RE oxides Solvay La Rochelle, France Operational; capacity
expansion in 2025 Nd/NdPr to come Less Common Metals Ellesmere Port, Cheshire,
UK Operational; Nd/NdPr capacity expansion ongoing Nd, NdPr, Dy,
Ferro-Dysprosium (DyFe), Tb, Samarium-Cobalt (SmCo) alloy LKAB Lulea, Sweden
Demonstration plant planned to start operations by end 2026 RE oxides Carester
Lacq, France Production planned for 2026 Heavy REs (Dy, Tb) MP Materials
Mountain Pass, California, US; Fort Worth, Texas, US Mountain Pass operational,
Forth Worth in commissioning NdPr, cerium, lanthanum and heavy rare earth
concentrate; metals, alloys and finished magnets at Fort Worth Rainbow Rare
Earths Lakeland, Florida, US Separation pilot plant in testing Nd and Pr
initially; Dy, Tb, then Sm, Eu, Gd in future development Australian Strategic
Materials Ochang, South Korea Operational Nd metal and alloy USA Rare Earth
Stillwater, Oklahoma In development Heavy rare earths Neo Performance Materials
Estonia Operational NdPr Mkango Resources Pulawy, Poland Separation plant
planned NdPr oxide, heavy REs REEtec Norway Commercial plant planned for 2025
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