The Carina heavy rare earths project is one of two ventures the mining company is developing in South America.
Canada-based Aclara Resources has secured up to $5 million in funding from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to advance its Carina heavy rare earths project in Goiás, Brazil. The investment will finance a feasibility study that is already in progress, with an expected completion date of early 2026. It builds on top of a pre-feasibility study, which is scheduled to be released later this month. The Carina Project is targeted to begin operations in 2028.
In addition to the project in Brazil, Aclara is advancing another ion-adsorption clay project in Chile, tapping into resources that, until now, have only been mined in China and Myanmar on a large scale. The company is also building a rare earth separation facility in the United States, aiming to integrate processing from mine to magnet vertically. The plan is to produce carbonate in South America and refine it into individual rare earth elements in North America. The company is also advancing a joint venture with Chilean steelmaker CAP S.A. to produce rare earth metals and alloys.
To complete the value chain, Aclara signed a strategic partnership last year with German magnet manufacturer Vacuumschmelze, which is building a magnet production facility in South Carolina. A potential supply agreement could establish a mine-to-magnet value chain from South to North America.
Photo: Aleksander Tumko