Charged EVs | US Department of Defense increases funding for Ucore’s Louisiana rare earth processing plant

Ucore Rare Metals has reached a firm fixed price agreement for an $18.4-million increase to its current $4-million funding from the US Department of Defense to launch its RapidSX rare earth element separation technology toward full-scale operation.

The funding through the US Army Contracting Command-Orlando will facilitate the construction of a production-ready commercial RapidSX machine and supporting infrastructure in Alexandria, Louisiana.

The additional sum will fund the expansion of the $4-million Department of Defense demonstration project, commercial-scale RapidSX production module construction and operations and system engineering technology transfer from Ucore’s Canadian demonstration facility to its developing US commercial facility. The company is targeting full-scale construction and early production in Louisiana in the second half of 2026.

This involves the pre-planned expansion of Ucore’s existing Rare Earth Element Separation Technology Capabilities Prototype Project, which is soon to conclude at the company’s RapidSX Commercialization and Demonstration Facility (CDF) in Kingston, Ontario.

As part of its Phase 2 project, the company will install a complete full-scale RapidSX separation machine at the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex (SMC) capable of demonstrating commercial scale production of six of the seven rare earth elements that China has listed for export licensing restrictions.

Ucore aims to initially process hundreds of tonnes of total rare earth oxide (TREO) and upon successful completion of the project, the company will continue to construct RapidSX machines to complete its planned 2,000-tonne-per-annum TREO Phase 1 construction. The modular nature of the technology platform enables these concurrent construction and production efforts, the company said.

“Ucore’s business model is founded on collaboration with an array of like-minded upstream and downstream commercial and governmental partners and the implementation of the next logical leap in commercial critical metals separation technology resulting from Western innovation,” said Pat Ryan, Ucore’s Chairman and CEO.

Source: Ucore