North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Independent testing commissioned by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority demonstrates that Ucore Rare Metals Inc.'s RapidSX rare earth elements separation technology is in fact faster, cheaper, more efficient, and environmentally sound than the conventional mixer-settler solvent extraction method it was designed to replace.

Fundamentally, RapidSX is a modernization and technological upgrade to the conventional solvent extraction technique that has been the standard for separating rare earths in China for more than 40 years.

Conventional solvent extraction involves bathing mixed rare earths products through vats of various solvents that progressively separate the 15 notoriously interlocked rare earths into individual elements – a long process that requires dozens of steps and a relatively large environmental footprint.

Ucore subsidiary Innovation Metals Corp. developed RapidSX, an advanced column-based platform designed to separate rare earths faster and with a much smaller footprint than conventional solvent extraction.

Ucore plans to use this technology at its Alaska Strategic Metals Complex, a processing plant it plans to build near the port town of Ketchikan, Alaska. This facility, currently slated for completion in 2024, would provide a domestic supply of the rare earths increasingly needed for high-tech products, especially for the powerful permanent magnets that go into electric vehicle motors.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, more commonly known as AIDEA, plans to invest $3.5 million into this rare earths separation facility. As part of its due diligence, AIDEA hired AG Hydrometallurgy Services Inc. to carry out an independent technical review of RapidSX and the ability to scale the new technology up to commercial applications.

"After completing our extensive technical review of the RapidSX technology, its commercialization development process and its planned installation in the Alaska SMC, it is my opinion that Ucore can credibly and effectively execute its unique business strategy," said AG Hydrometallurgy Services President and CEO Ahmad Ghahreman, a hydrometallurgical expert that has advised the Canadian government on rare earths mining and separation.

AGHS found that RapidSX has the ability to separate the entire suite of light and heavy rare earths around three times more efficiently than traditional solvent extraction. This means that a RapidSX processing facility could separate the same quantity of rare earths in one-third the space.

Compared to conventional solvent extraction with the same capacity, a RapidSX separation facility would cost around half to build and approximately 20% less to operate.

AGHS also determined that RapidSX could be scaled up to a plant capable of separating more than 10,000 metric tons of mixed rare earth products into individual rare earth oxides per year – an important factor for a technology that is in the pilot stage of development and an organization investing in its first commercial-scale operation.

"We're extremely pleased with the independent expert evaluation of the RapidSX technology, as it continues to support our commercial deployment plans that center on being very competitive for the production of REOs to be delivered to downstream EV and renewable energy manufacturers," said Ucore Rare Metals Chairman and CEO Pat Ryan.

Based on the finding of this evaluation, the newly reorganized and expanded Ucore team has decided to aggressively advance the construction of a RapidSX demonstration-scale plant in Ontario.

Ucore Rare Metals

Technicians test Innovative Metals' RapidSX on a research apparatus set up at the site where the demonstration-scale plant is being developed.

A mixed rare earths carbonate supplied by Germany-based thyssenkrupp Materials Trading, which entered into a preliminary agreement to supply Ucore with a similar product for processing at the Alaska SMC, will provide feedstock for the demonstration plant that is slated to begin commissioning around midyear.

Ucore also said a multi-national company interested in becoming a strategic materials complex partner visited the site earlier this month where the demonstration plant is being developed. Under the veil of a non-disclosure agreement, Ucore shared its more intricate long-range planning with this unnamed potential partner that wanted to take a first-hand look at the RapidSX technology and discuss its upstream and downstream rare earth requirements.

More information on the mixed rare earths supply agreement with thyssenkrupp and the reorganization of the Ucore management and technical teams can be read at Ucore regroups and advances Alaska SMC in the April 22, 2022 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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