Rare Earths: Meteoric Resources Partners With Latin America’s First Magnet Manufacturer

by | 25. Jun 2024 - 09:45 | Economy

The two parties will explore fields of collaboration, including possible off-take agreements from Meteoric’s Caldeira rare earth project in Brazil.

Australia-based mining company Meteoric Resources has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the SENAI Regional Department of the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais – the operator of Latin America’s first permanent magnet manufacturing facility, Lab Fab (PDF). SENAI stands for Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, which roughly translates to National Service for Industrial Training. The organization provides training for specialized workers in fields such as mining or chemical engineering.

Under the five-year MoU, the two parties will explore the usage of feedstock from Meteoric’s Caldeira rare earth project at Lab Fab and further collaboration in research and experiments, among other fields.

Lab Fab will begin operations later this year and is expected to produce 100 tons of permanent magnets annually in its initial phase, with plans to double this within three years.

Meteoric Looking for Off-Takers for its Caldeira Project

Andrew Tunks, Executive Chairman of Meteoric, commented on the MoU, saying it “is an important partnership for Meteoric as we look to potential offtakers for our Caldeira Project as it targets first production in 2027.”

Meteoric’s Caldeira project is also located in Minas Gerais, facilitating the transport of raw materials to Lab Fab. Off-takers include Canadian rare earth and magnet specialist Neo Performance Materials, which signed a supply agreement with Meteoric earlier this year (we reported). Brazilian feedstock will be shipped to Neo’s separation plant in Sillamäe, Estonia, for further processing. In the future, this facility will supply the company’s sintered rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing plant, which is currently under development in nearby Narva, Estonia

Photo: iStock/Oleksii Liskonih

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