- Canadian metals supply company Ucore Rare Metals Inc. is focused on establishing North American independence in the production of rare earth elements (“REEs”) vital to modern computerized technologies
- China currently dominates the global market for mining, processing and product creation for REEs, raising concerns that governmental controls over its industries could hamstring supplies Western nations need for everything from cell phones to fighter jet parts
- Ucore is preparing to establish commercial operations for REE refining and processing using the company’s trademarked RapidSX(TM) solution, which has demonstrated significant economical and environmental improvement over the standard SX separation technology
- The company recently announced execution of a tax exemption contract in Louisiana, where it will build the first commercial facility, and the company has selected initial construction contractors to get the process under way
Strategic metals enterprise Ucore Rare Metals (TSX.V: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF) is wrapping up the year by presenting its shareholders a soft construction launch for work at the Louisiana site where the company will build its important rare earth element (“REE”) processing plant.
Ucore announced on December 12 that Louisiana’s governor has executed the contract that will exempt Ucore from some $8.2 million in projected taxes over the next decade, that construction engineering services and construction contracting services subcontractors have been selected, and that members of the Louisiana site program team have begun the “copy & paste” transition process of adapting the technology tested at Ucore’s Canadian demonstration site to the Louisiana facility.
“The recent trip to Ucore’s Kingston, Ontario, RapidSX(TM) Demo Plant really reinforced the size, scale, and importance to North America of what Ucore is working to accomplish for the electric vehicle industry,” Ralph Hennessy, the director of the Louisiana “England Airpark” site, stated in the company’s news release about the progress (https://nnw.fm/rWU3w). “They have assembled a very capable team to construct their facility at the England Airpark, representing a significant milestone in Louisiana’s pathway to a multi-energy economy.”
Ucore’s “Strategic Metals Complex” (“SMC”) in Louisiana represents the fulfillment of efforts to establish a Western-nation supply chain for REEs that is not dependent on China’s industrial domination in the industry. REEs perform crucial functions in modern computerized technologies.
“Knowing that we have local, regional and state support, coupled with federal support through the U.S. Department of Defense and, most recently, from the Government of Canada truly provides a North American solution as we focus on keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States and Canada,” Ucore VP & Chief Operating Officer Mike Schrider, P.E., stated.
For months, Ucore has been demonstrating the capability of RapidSX(TM) REE processing technology in a head-to-head output challenge against the industry standard for REE solvent extraction (known as CSX, or simply SX) at the test facility in Kingston, Ontario. The SMC in Alexandria, Louisiana, will use RapidSX(TM) to produce REEs at commercial scale, building up to 7,500 metric tons of total rare earth oxide (“TREO”) production from an initial 2,000 metric tons startup.
While China has developed its REE mining and processing industries, similar industries in the Americas and other nations have virtually disappeared during recent decades because of economic factors and pollution concerns. RapidSX(TM) offers an improvement over the standard process for teasing the 17 REE metals out of their host ores — a complex process Ucore is managing with a smaller footprint and less demand for electricity.
“The (standard) rare earths refining process can be very finicky,” University of Arizona’s mining and geological engineering department chief Kray Luxbacker told The Economic Times recently (https://nnw.fm/i7oWO). “There are just so many complex steps.”
Once the Louisiana SMC is operational and receiving feedstock from Western mining operations, Ucore will beginning turning its sights toward building two additional planned SMCs in the United States and Canada. The company also owns a rare earths deposit in Alaska that it may tap to mine REEs itself at some point in the future.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Ucore.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to UURAF are available in the company’s newsroom at https://nnw.fm/UURAF
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