{"id":33007,"date":"2023-07-21T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T09:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=33007"},"modified":"2024-01-19T15:27:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T15:27:46","slug":"strengthening-the-us-rare-earth-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/strengthening-the-us-rare-earth-supply-chain\/33007\/","title":{"rendered":"Strengthening the US rare earth supply chain"},"content":{"rendered":"
2022 was an important year for the rare earth supply chain. There were major advances in mining and processing, both in the US and throughout the world.<\/p>\n
Nick Myers, CEO and Co-founder of Phoenix Tailings, said: \u201cAll over the globe, people are waking up to the reality that the rare earth status quo is unsustainable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ongoing electrification revolution means that global demand for rare earth metals will skyrocket. The same old ways of doing business will not be able to meet our needs. The question is how, not if, the sector will expand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The independent research firm Adamas Intelligence predicts that global demand will triple, increasing to $46bn in 2035 from $15bn in 2022. So it is no surprise that, last year, there was major investment and progress in every part of the rare earth supply chain.<\/p>\n
The US Mountain Pass mine expanded operations and many companies are exploring sites for new mines. Africa also experienced a flurry of mining activity and exploration, with a mine in Malawi announcing it will commence production in 2025 and a British company buying a major stake in a Namibian rare earth mine.<\/p>\n
Dr Tom\u00e1s Villal\u00f3n Jr, CTO and Co-founder of Phoenix Tailings, said: \u201cMining and exploration have been getting most of the headlines, but they\u2019re only one part of the rare earth supply chain.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil you have usable metal for manufacturing, not just ore dug out of the ground, there\u2019s no actual progress. The world needs an \u2018all-of-the-above\u2019 approach to getting the rare earths we\u2019re going to need, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to have founded the first-ever clean metal processing company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phoenix Tailings is the first company to actually process usable rare earth metals here in the US and work towards a steady rare earth supply chain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 1980s, earth metal processing left the United States and Western Europe, relocating to developing countries with lower labour costs and fewer environmental regulations,\u201d said Myers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can bring a rare earth supply chain back to the United States because our novel process is orders of magnitude more effective than the traditional process, without any of the environmental harms that require lengthy permitting and expensive remediation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, Phoenix Tailings is producing neodymium (Nd,) and will shortly expand dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb), and ferro-dysprosium alloy (DyFe.) These were selected for initial production because of the immediate commercial demand. Phoenix Tailings\u2019 technology is modular, so they plan to expand production to other rare earths, battery group metals such as nickel and cobalt, and precious metals like gold.<\/p>\n