{"id":25861,"date":"2022-10-04T10:02:20","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T09:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=25861"},"modified":"2022-10-04T10:02:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T09:02:20","slug":"ensuring-circular-economy-rare-earth-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/ensuring-circular-economy-rare-earth-production\/25861\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensuring a circular economy in rare earth production"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ionic Rare Earths is assisting the global transition to clean energy through rare earth production and magnet recycling.<\/h2>\n

Australian listed company, Ionic Rare Earths Limited<\/a> (ASX:IXR), is setting itself apart from the growing list of rare earth miners by looking to solve the complex global problems of demand outstripping sustainable supply chains, geopolitics, and recycling. The strategy is to help transition and power a low-carbon future globally, for life. The company is completing the circular economy of mining: refining and recycling heavy rare earths.<\/p>\n

The Makuutu project<\/a> is set to become a globally significant producer of both heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) and critical rare earth oxides (CREO), providing a viable, large-scale, low-cost alternative supply chain outside of China.<\/p>\n

The next phase of commercialisation alongside Makuutu is the recycling business. The recently announced rebranding of the 100% UK-based subsidiary Ionic Technologies (IonicTech) will focus on scaling up heavy magnet recycling to increase the modular supply of heavy magnets used in electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines.<\/p>\n

The Makuutu Rare Earth project<\/h3>\n

IonicRE is developing the large-scale Makuutu ionic adsorption clay (IAC) deposit in Uganda, which the company says has one of the highest value \u2018baskets\u2019 of all rare earth element (REE) projects in evaluation today.<\/p>\n

The Makuutu project will be Uganda\u2019s flagship sustainable mine. The project is poised to be a low-cost, significant long life, high-margin, supplier of high-value magnets and heavy rare earth oxides.<\/p>\n

Makuutu is an advanced-stage, IAC-hosted REE project highlighted by near-surface mineralisation and significant exploration upside. The clay-hosted geology at Makuutu is similar to major IAC rare earth projects in southern China, which are responsible for the majority of the global supply of low-cost rare earths. The deposit is shallow, with less than three metres of cover over a nine-metre average thickness clay and saprolite zone, which results in low-cost bulk mining methods with a low strip ratio. A maximum thickness of 28.5m has been identified at Makuutu.<\/p>\n

The project is well-supported by tier-one existing infrastructure which includes access to major highways, roads, power, water, and a professional workforce, and is located 120km east of Kampala in Uganda.<\/p>\n

Processing is via simple acidified salt desorption heap leaching, breaking the chemical ionic bond which washes the rare earths (in a chemical form) from the ore into a pregnant leach solution (PLS). The PLS is concentrated up using membrane technology, from which the rare earths are precipitated as a mixed rare earth carbonate product; a product which attracts both a higher payability and achieves a high basket price due to the dominant high-value magnets and heavy rare earths which make up over 70% of the product basket.<\/p>\n

The Makuutu project is set to become Uganda\u2019s flagship sustainable mine and is poised to support the country achieve goals set in the Third National Development Plan (NDPIII) through mining. The company plans to use renewable energy, alternative sources of fuel, and apply sustainable mining practices to reduce their impact on the environment \u2013 positively contributing to Uganda\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for many decades into the future.<\/p>\n

Social license to operate<\/h3>\n

Already the Makuutu Rare Earth project has begun to transform local lives. A number of health, education, water purification, and community support programmes have taken place to date. These sustainable development programmes continue to positively impact and support the communities which fall within the three districts (Bugweri, Mayuge, and Bugiri) of the Makuutu project. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these community programmes supported community safety and improved employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

These inclusive growth programmes will continue to expand as the mine develops. Strong partnerships are being built to ensure that the social impact felt within the communities continues to drive change well into the future.<\/p>\n

The company has integrated social, environment, and governance (ESG) principles into its operations, and has committed to sustainability, accountability, and transparency, the driving force behind the culture of the IonicRE social programmes.<\/p>\n

Some of the benefits the local community members have benefacted from to date include:<\/p>\n