Ionic Rare Earths and US Strategic Metals announce joint project in Missouri.
Australian critical minerals company Ionic Rare Earths and US Strategic Metals (USSM) plan to build rare earth magnet recycling facilities in the United States. The companies have signed a non-binding agreement (PDF) to establish a joint venture. The facilities would be built near Fredericktown, Missouri, where USSM is developing an integrated mining and processing site for critical minerals.
Feedstock for the recycling facilities will include end-of-life neodymium-iron-boron and samarium-cobalt magnets, as well as manufacturing scrap from these components. Ionic will provide the required technology. The company has already produced rare earth oxides from end-of-life magnets at a demonstration plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland. USSM also plans to use the process at a refinery it aims to develop in Saudi Arabia.
The proposed funding for the initial facilities in Missouri totals $100 million. USSM would provide $95 million, while the partners would split the remaining $5 million. The companies have not disclosed a timeline for construction or the start of operations, or the planned annual production capacity.
Photo: sketchify, Warisan Kreatif via Canva, montage rawmaterials.net
