ASM makes its first shipment of refined terbium and dysprosium from South Korea to Europe. Meanwhile, Canada’s Ucore successfully demonstrates the separation of both elements.
Rare earths and China are often mentioned in the same breath. While the West has made some progress in producing light rare earth elements, such as neodymium, China remains dominant in the production and refinement of heavy rare earths, including terbium and dysprosium. The technical complexity of refining these elements means that capacity and know-how are still largely concentrated in the People’s Republic. With China imposing strict export controls on most heavy rare earths, global supply has become even more constrained.
Against this backdrop, two Western producers have now reported key milestones along the heavy rare earth value chain. Australian Strategic Materials (ASM), a mining and processing company, has announced its first commercial sale of terbium and dysprosium to Neo Performance Materials, a Canadian supplier of advanced industrial materials. The feedstock was refined at ASM’s plant in South Korea and shipped to Neo’s magnet production facility in Estonia for further processing. The two companies have also announced plans to deepen their collaboration, including evaluating the potential supply of magnet materials from Neo to ASM.
Ucore Demonstrates Terbium-Dysprosium Separation
Almost simultaneously, Ucore Rare Metals shared promising news. As reported back in May, the Canadian company is working with support from the U.S. Department of Defense to bring its rare earth separation technology to commercial scale. According to Ucore, it has now successfully demonstrated the separation of terbium and dysprosium, a key technical milestone. The Pentagon recognized this achievement with a $1.1 million grant. Ucore currently operates a demonstration plant in Canada and plans to establish a full-scale production facility in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
These advancements reflect a growing trend of supply chain diversification for heavy rare earths. Australian mining giant Lynas has recently become the first commercial producer of heavy rare earths outside of China. With funding support from the Pentagon, Lynas is building a separation plant for heavy rare earth elements in the United States. Last week, the industry made headlines when it was announced that the U.S. Department of Defense would become the largest shareholder in MP Materials, America’s leading producer of rare earth elements. The multi-billion-dollar investment aims to strengthen domestic processing capabilities, especially for heavy rare earth elements.
Photo: TRADIUM GmbH