The company is designing the $125m Saltend facility to produce around 12,500 tonnes per of rare earth oxides per annum
Rare-earth oxides. (Credit: Peggy Greb, US department of agriculture/Wikipedia)
UK-based rare-earth miner Pensana has commenced the early-stage development on its rare earth processing hub at the Saltend Chemicals Park in Humber, UK.
The Saltend facility is expected to be the first major rare earth separation facility to be built in more than a decade and the first to be located in a Freeport.
Pensana aims to establish Saltend as an independent, sustainable supplier of the important magnet metal oxides to the market, which is predominantly occupied by China.
The company is designing the $125m Saltend facility to produce around 12,500 tonnes per of rare earth oxides per annum, comprising 4,500 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium.
The facility is expected to create more than 500 jobs during construction and 100 direct jobs, upon entering into production.
Pensana chairman Paul Atherley said: “Demands for more secure and responsible supply chains, higher prices on carbon, and policies such as the border carbon adjustments are setting the stage for greater transparency and traceability in minerals and metals – enablers of the global energy transition.
“The Humber is already the UK’s busiest port complex the freeport status with its customs and tax incentives aimed at levelling up provides the opportunity to establish the world’s first rare earth processing hub within an economic enterprise zone, with the benefits of frictionless trade with Europe and the rest of the world.”
Pensana is advancing the front-end engineering designs (FEED) for the Saltend and Longonjo projects, with plans to complete in October this year.
It has partnered with Wood, which has committed forty experts from its Western Australian, UK and South African operations to work on FEED for both projects.
The company has contracted pxGroup prepare Saltend site for construction, and the site preparation is planned to complete in few months.
Atherley added: “We continue to work closely with our application for funding from the Automotive Transformation Fund, a long-term programme designed to enable the UK to build the world’s most comprehensive and compelling electrified vehicle supply chain, supporting over 160,000 jobs.”