Citing midstream processing as the critical link in America’s rare earths supply chain, the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital is planning to loan $500 million to Phoenix Tailings that would back half the cost of a large new plant, to be named the Freedom Facility. The funds would anchor an approximately $1 billion comprehensive financing initiative aimed at rebuilding America’s rare earth industrial base. Plans call for the facility to process diverse feedstocks to produce light and heavy rare earth metals by creating a large-scale separation and metallization capacity capable of serving mines, recyclers, manufacturers and government entities.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it is in the process of committing to a $66 million grant to Phoenix Tailings that would cover almost half the project cost of establishing a $147 million demonstration processing operation in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
“Supporting domestic processing for critical minerals and rare earths is a key focus for OSC, and the rare earth midstream processing capabilities that Phoenix Tailings represents are key shortage areas that need to be rapidly addressed. We are pleased to support Phoenix Tailings in building the company’s Freedom Facility, which will represent an important step in strengthening the full mine-to-magnet supply chain in the United States,” said David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg.
“By creating a midstream facility like this, we are empowering virtually every part of the market and rebuilding the rare earth sector as a truly collaborative industry,” said Anthony Balladon, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Phoenix Tailings. “We will ensure end customers get access to the rare earth metals they urgently need, while helping mines and recyclers get up and running by purchasing their output, which would otherwise have to move through other nations. The Freedom Facility is designed to serve as the backbone of a resilient Western rare earth supply chain.”
The facility is designed to utilize domestically controlled technology and intellectual property, mitigating reliance on foreign entities of concern. Initial operations are targeted for 2028. Phoenix Tailings’ processing platform is built on three core technology pillars: advanced chemistry, industrial hardware and digital infrastructure – all focused on leveraging cutting edge technology to create clean, safe and economically competitive operations.
“We founded Phoenix Tailings in our backyard because we believed there was a better way to produce rare earths and critical metals,” said Dr. Tomas Villalón Jr., Co-Founder and CTO of Phoenix Tailings. “This strategic investment from the Office of Strategic Capital will allow us to deploy the infrastructure America has lacked for decades while proving that advanced technology can deliver a safer, cleaner, and more competitive rare earth industry.”
The core functions will be separation to isolate individual light and heavy rare-earth oxides from raw materials, followed by metallization to convert isolated oxides into pure rare-earth metals and alloys from feedstocks including mining waste, concentrates and recycled magnets.
Grants for demonstration plants
The grant for a demonstration plant is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals & Energy Innovation program announced in June, amounting to $134 million for two projects to demonstrate the commercial viability of recovering and refining REEs from unconventional feedstocks such as mine tailings, electronic waste and other waste materials.
“To achieve energy independence, the United States needs to find value in overlooked resources,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy (EERE) Audrey Robertson. “By expanding our capabilities to recover and process rare earth elements from waste products, these projects will reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources and improve the resilience of our supply chains.”
Phoenix Tailings’ project is to design, construct, commission and operate a demonstration-scale facility to produce high-purity rare earth metals from domestic industrial waste-derived feedstocks. The project is meant to establish a new commercial pathway for domestic production of heavy rare earth metals. Partners in the project will be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Minnesota.
Colorado School of Mines was the other grantee, for $67 million. Its project is to develop and operate a demonstration facility near the Gramercy alumina refinery in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana. The facility will process “red mud,” a mineral-rich bauxite waste product. By separating rare earth oxides and refining them into rare earth metals, the facility is supposed to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of an integrated domestic REE extraction, separation and refining process.
Partners in this project are ElementUSA, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Principal Mineral, and Rare Earth Technologies Inc. For ElementUSA, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the grant builds on an ongoing $29.9 million project with the Department of War focused on gallium and scandium recovery and commercialization. Together, the programs support its efforts to scale a process to convert bauxite residue, the byproduct of alumina refining, into pig iron and a diversified suite of critical minerals and REEs. Rare Earth Technologies is a concentrate processor and refiner of REE materials, established in 2021 in Cincinnati.
For more info, see www.phoenixtailings.com.
