Critical Metals Corp. plans to build a processing facility in Romania as part of a joint venture and supply it with material from its Tanbreez deposit.
US mining company Critical Metals Corp. (CRML) is developing the Tanbreez rare earth deposit in resource-rich Greenland. The material extracted there could soon be processed in Romania. CRML has announced a joint venture with Fabrica de Prelucrare a Concentratelor de Uraniu S.R.L. (FPCU), a subsidiary of Romania’s state-owned nuclear energy company Nuclearelectrica and a specialist in processing fuel-cycle materials.
Together, the partners aim to develop and operate a rare earth processing plant in Romania. CRML plans to supply the JV with 50 percent of its annual output from Tanbreez. The goal is to strengthen supply chains for civilian and military industries across the EU and NATO.
CRML CEO Tony Sage called the agreement a “monumental game-changer for the Western world.” The company, together with the Romanian government, now intends to apply for the EU’s recently announced €3 billion funding package for strengthening domestic raw material supply. CRML has already secured additional offtake deals, including with Canadian firm Ucore Rare Metals.
Tanbreez: A promising deposit with challenges
Tanbreez is considered a key project for reducing global dependence on China, which dominates rare earth processing. The deposit reportedly contains nearly 30 percent heavy rare earth elements, those with the tightest supply. It also has lower levels of radioactive material compared to other Greenland deposits.
However, Tanbreez is an eudialyte-type deposit, meaning overall rare earth concentrations are low. This makes extraction technically challenging and potentially costly. CRML therefore plans to examine how to optimize the process to improve efficiency.
Photo: Maksym Dragunov, alexsl, DreamCursor via Canva, montage rawmaterials.net