HOUSTON, June 29th (Argus) - American rare earth developer Aclara Resources has produced a high-grade rare earth carbonate product with a 99% rare earth content at its pilot plant in Santiago, Chile.
The company stated that it plans to use the processing technology for producing this product in the Carina project in Brazil and the Penco project in Chile. This product is called ultra-pure rare earth carbonate.
The company stated that when combined with the company's circular mineral recovery system, the additional capital and operating expenses required for this process are "not significant". The company stated that during the separation into rare earth oxides, the high rare earth concentration will be "significantly reliable".
The concentration of traditional mixed rare earth carbonate can be as low as 40%, while ultra-pure rare earth carbonate can remove impurities that may affect downstream separation.
The company stated that the new product also reduces logistics costs by reducing transportation volume and increasing product value.
Aclara expects that once commercial operations begin, ultra-pure rare earth carbonate will become the standard intermediate rare earth product for the two projects.
The company is developing a rare earth separation plant in the United States, which will process ultra-pure rare earth carbonate into individual rare earth oxides. Then, these will be converted into alloys according to a joint venture with the Chilean steel producer CAP.
