Rare Earths Pilot Plant Opens in Colorado, US

US Rare Earths and its partner Texas Mineral Resources have opened a pilot processing plant in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, to purify rare earths, lithium, and other critical minerals.

Texas Mineral Resources believes it is imperative to re-establish the US as the leader in technology, production, and refining of the strategically vital heavy rare earth elements. The company intends to be the secure supplier of these elements which are the foundation of the American defense and technological infrastructure. The Round Top deposit of the company is uniquely situated to fill this vital National need, intending to produce a full range of high purity, heavy rare earth elements as well as a variety of associated high-value by-products.

The pilot plant will come from the Round Top deposit and critical minerals project, in addition to producing a large amount of heavy rare earth and lithium, located just outside El Paso, Texas. Aside from the significant concentration of heavy rare earths and lithium, the project also includes other key mineral resources on the US Government's critical minerals list such as uranium, beryllium, gallium, hafnium, and zirconium.

Chief executive of USA Rare Earth, Althaus pointed out that "Our Colorado pilot plant will be the first processing facility outside of China with the ability to separate the full range of rare earths - Lights, Mids, and Heavies,"

The US two companies that cooperated in the construction of this rare earth pilot processing plant plan in Colorado to start construction of a formal processing plant project at an investment of $10 million to $12 after the pilot plant is successful, and it is expected to be producing small amounts of processed rare earths by the middle of 2020. The production volume is roughly 100 kilograms (220 pounds) annually. The two parties also plan to move the pilot plant to Texas by 2021 and achieve full-scale production by 2023.

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