This post was originally published on this site.
American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR) and Novex plan to develop US rare earth metal production using feedstock from the Halleck Creek project in Wyoming, targeting a domestic supply chain stretching from mined ore to permanent magnets.
The companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance the conversion of separated rare earth oxides into metals used in permanent magnets and explore the design of a US rare earth metal production facility.
The companies will primarily work together in the Halleck Creek project in Wyoming, the largest known deposit of total contained rare earth oxides in the US. The company said its mineral resource of approximately 2.63 billion tonnes has the potential to supply domestic magnet metals, drawing federal and state support, including a non-binding US Export-Import Bank letter of interest of up to $456 million.
“Putting our massive Wyoming resource alongside their technical capability is an important step in developing the cornerstone of US domestic rare earth and magnet production, in Wyoming,” American Rare Earths CEO Mark Wall said in a news release.
Wyoming supply chain
The agreement targets one of the gaps in the US rare earth supply chain: turning refined and separated oxides into metals suitable for magnet manufacturing. Developing that capability domestically could reduce reliance on overseas processing as Washington seeks to secure supplies of materials vital for defence and advanced manufacturing.
They will optimize processes that will improve recovery, purity and product qualification of rare earth elements and create a domestic production facility and a fully domestic mine-to-magnet chain, ARR said.
The partners also aim to metallize neodymium-praseodymium, (NdPr) oxide and convert it to a metal product suitable as a magnet precursor and review options for American Rare Earths to produce and supply samarium, dysprosium and terbium for metallurgical testing and qualification.
The Wyoming value chain will extend from ore, through refining and separation, to the metals that feed magnet manufacture.
This MoU comes after an American Rare Earths review oxide-to-metal review. It had found several workable metallization technologies that would help the US to advance the sector.
These routes included fluoride conversion followed by calciothermic reduction, lanthanothermic reduction for volatile metals and high-temperature molten salt electrolysis. The last one came out as the cleanest out of all the methods, reducing dependence on anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and for not consuming a saleable rare earth metal as the reductant.
China deadline
The companies’ push comes as the US seeks to lessen its dependence on China’s dominant rare earth supply chain, particularly for materials used in defence applications.
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, US defence contractors will face restrictions on delivering certain magnets containing rare earth elements mined, refined or separated in China, adding another obstacle to the sector and a need for domestic production.
“Establishing this capability in the United States requires a secure domestic source of the right rare-earth feedstocks, and Halleck Creek provides that foundation,” Novex chief executive Ilija Mišković said.
