PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Lynas has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US-based Blue Line to develop rare earth separation capacity in the US.
Under an MoU, the two companies would exclusively work together on the proposed development of a rare earth separation facility at the Blue Line site in Texas.
Initially, the joint venture (JV) would focus on heavy rare earth separation, but could also include light rare earth separation.
“This is an exciting opportunity to develop local separation capacity for our customers in the US and to close a critical supply chain gap for US manufacturers,” said Lynas CEO and MD Amanda Lacaze.
“We already have an excellent commercial partnership with Blue Line serving key North American customers and we are looking forward to working closely with Blue Line over the next 12 months as we develop this JV.”
The JV would be the only large-scale production of separated medium and heavy rare earth products in the world, outside of China.
Blue Line president and CEO Jon Blumenthal said on Monday that the company would be working with Lynas to provide a secure source of rare earth materials to both US and international markets using Blue Line’s technical expertise to produce raw materials for uses in green and other high-tech industries.
Blue Line owns a large industrial site in Hondo, Texas, which is thought to be ideal for the rare earth separation plant. Several major items of equipment, including tunnel furnaces, are already in place at the facility.