Due to better market conditions, the company now plans to operate in the United States.
The British mining company Pensana will not move forward with building its domestic rare earth refinery, according to media reports. The planned plant in Hull, Northeast England, was intended to process raw materials into oxides. Currently, there are only a few facilities outside China capable of performing this stage of the value chain.
Due to more favorable market conditions, the processing activities are now set to be relocated to the U.S., said founder and chairman Paul Atherley in an interview with Sky News, which first reported the plans. He specifically cited the Pentagon’s involvement with the largest U.S. rare earth producer, including a supply agreement with a guaranteed minimum price, which he said repriced the market. Atherley expects further similar deals in the U.S. and criticized what he sees as insufficient government support for the industry in Europe and the UK.
The previous UK government had announced investments in the Hull refinery as part of its critical minerals strategy. According to Sky News, however, the funding was never disbursed because the plant was not realized, despite the groundbreaking in summer 2021 (we reported).
Pensana’s Longonjo rare earth mine in Angola appears to have progressed significantly further. According to the company (PDF), production is scheduled to start in 2027, and much of the financing for the first phase of construction is already in place. Part of the raw material for the planned Hull plant was to come from Longonjo. The rare earths mined there could now instead be processed in India and the U.S. In June, Pensana signed two corresponding memoranda of understanding.
Photo: iStock/BerndBrueggemann