Australia’s Meteoric Resources has entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canadian company Ucore Rare Metals to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of total rare earth oxide (TREO) from its upcoming Caldeira rare earth ionic clay project in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.
TREO will be delivered to Ucore’s forthcoming rare earth oxide (REO) production facility, the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex (SMC) in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Throughout the MOU, both parties will collaborate to finalise a binding agreement for supplying mixed rare earth carbonate from the Caldeira project to the Louisiana SMC.
When production begins, the parties anticipate that Ucore will commit to purchasing at least 3,000 metric tonnes of TREO per year from the Caldeira project.
Both parties will assist one another in seeking funding and advancing business development for their individual projects.
Ucore is expected to begin commissioning its initial REO production in Louisiana by the fourth quarter of 2025, with commercial operations set to begin in the first half of 2026.
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By GlobalData
TREO identified at the Caldeira Project consists of a notably enriched basket of heavy rare earth oxides, with significant concentrations of key magnet REOs terbium, dysprosium, neodymium and praseodymium.
Ucore is conducting demonstration-scale separation of heavy and light rare earth elements (REEs) at its RapidSX Commercialisation and Demonstration Facility in Kingston, Ontario.
The project involves collaboration with the US Department of Defense and the Canadian government, as Ucore works to scale up its technology from demonstration to commercial production at the forthcoming Louisiana SMC.
Ucore chairman and CEO Pat Ryan said: “Ucore is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Meteoric and its world-class Caldeira project as we continue to engage with like-minded partners in establishing a Western supply chain made up of diverse global projects.
“The proximity of South America, particularly Brazil, to the Port of New Orleans and onto our facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, is ideally situated as we establish rare earth manufacturing in the southeastern US.”
In November 2023, Meteoric divested the Juruena gold project in Brazil to Keystone Resources in a $20m deal.
