Aclara Resources Inc. (Vancouver, B.C.) announced the inauguration of a demonstration plant to develop the technology to produce rare earth metals and alloys. The demonstration plant was launched by Aclara Metals SpA (Santiago, Chile), a 50/50 joint venture with CAP S.A. (Santiago, Chile), focused on the development of rare earth metals and alloys production. The technology draws on the metallurgical knowledge and experience accumulated over decades at CAP’s Huachipato steelworks in Talcahuano, Chile. The start-up ceremony was attended by Sergio Giacaman, Governor of the Biobío Region, along with directors and executives of CAP, Aclara and Aclara Metals.
Using a molten salt electrolysis process, the demonstration plant will convert neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxides into metals and alloys. The facility is expected to validate this technology at industrial scale and under real operating conditions. It has been designed for a nominal production capacity of up to 175 kilograms of rare earth metal per day, with a target purity of at least 99.5%. Aclara Metals is also evaluating a second demonstration stage, following completion of the NdPr production stage, that would add dysprosium (Dy) oxide to produce an NdPrDy alloy.
Source: Aclara Resources
The demonstration plant will operate through production campaigns that are expected to validate its ability to produce metals and alloys under stable, continuous industrial conditions while meeting the quality specifications required by potential international customers. These campaigns are also expected to build operating experience and help train the teams involved in the future industrial facility.
Results based on real-world data from the demonstration plant are also expected to provide critical technical and operational inputs for the basic engineering for Aclara Metals’ future industrial project in Louisiana, United States. This data will also be used to develop and refine predictive digital models that are aimed at optimizing the process and supporting a more stable and efficient operation of the electrolysis cells. The detailed design of the industrial-scale electrolysis cell has been developed entirely by teams from Aclara Metals and Huachipato and constitutes proprietary technology of the company. With no established industrial standards for this metallurgical process to metallize rare earths, Aclara Metals’ internally developed know-how represents a high-value technological asset.
Rare earth metals and alloys are essential inputs for manufacturing the permanent magnets used in electromobility, robotics, wind power generation and other advanced technologies. The initiative will also generate knowledge in Chile that is expected to contribute to the development of new technologies key to the energy transition.
The initiative is part of Aclara and CAP’s strategy to advance toward an integrated, traceable and sustainable rare earth value chain, spanning extraction and separation through to the production of metals and alloys. In Chile, extraction will take place at the Penco Module, the country’s first rare earth deposit.
Jorge Salvatierra, chairman of the board of CAP, said: “This plant is a concrete example of how the capabilities and knowledge developed over decades at Huachipato can be extended into new industries. We are combining metallurgical experience, infrastructure and talent with new technological capabilities to innovate from Chile and to take part in a critical minerals value chain linked to the energy transition. It is also the kind of project we seek to drive as part of Huachipato’s industrial transition, finding new uses for existing capabilities and opening space for knowledge- and innovation-intensive initiatives.”
Ramón Barúa, CEO of Aclara, said: “This demonstration plant marks another important step in Aclara’s development of an integrated rare earth supply chain. It complements our concentration pilot plants in Chile and Brazil and our separation pilot plant in Virginia, United States. With the addition of metallization and alloy production capabilities, Aclara is advancing toward an end-to-end technology and production platform integrating mining, concentration, separation, metallization and alloy production. This completes a value chain that is critical to establishing a secure Western source of both heavy and light rare earths.”
Álvaro Castellón, general manager of Aclara Metals, added: “Rare earth metallization is a scarce, almost nonexistent technology in the West. This demonstration plant will allow us to replicate one of the four processes that make up metallization, generating concrete learnings that will complement the engineering work already underway as we advance toward a future industrial plant in the United States. Huachipato’s metallurgical experience, together with the drive and conviction of CAP and Aclara, has created a unique combination that lets us move quickly and deliver concrete results.”