London, July 6th (Argus) - Chief Executive Officer Ramón Barua Costa stated in an interview with Argus that the significant increase in yttrium prices is driving the production strategy transformation of the South American rare earth mining company Aclara Resources.
Aclara is developing a project from mining to magnetic materials, which includes two ion rare earth mines - Carina in Brazil and Penco in Chile - as well as a separation plant in Louisiana. The company aims to start the construction of its Brazilian and Chilean operations in the second half of 2026 and plans to produce in 2028.
On June 9th, Aclara obtained the final environmental and regulatory approval from the Chilean government for the Penco project development, clearing the way for production.
On June 29th, the company announced the development of ultra-pure carbonate rare earths with a 99% content at its pilot plant in Santiago, Chile.
The production of yttrium has become a new priority.
Higher yttrium prices offer opportunities for developing mining companies to find value.
In Aclara's mid-year financial results for the first quarter of 2026, the net value of the Carina project increased from $1.1 billion in the pre-feasibility study technical report on November 6th to $1.7 billion. "The main reason is that in the previous documents, the value of yttrium was almost zero," Barua Costa said. "Now, yttrium accounts for 30% of the entire project value."
Since April 4th, 2025, when China implemented export controls on several rare earth varieties, the price of yttrium has soared. Argus assessed the European spot price at $900 - $1,400 per kilogram on July 2nd, an increase of 14,835% compared to April 1st, 2025.
In the previous years, Aclara's production plans prioritized the four magnetic-related rare earth elements - dysprosium, terbium, neodymium, and praseodymium. If market conditions permit, the production of yttrium would be part of the second phase.
However, Aclara found that inquiries for non-magnetic-related rare earth elements have risen sharply. Barua Costa said that yttrium has always been the main product of customer demand, and the purchase interest in samarium and gadolinium is also increasing.
At a recent board meeting, members approved an additional budget to expand the separation pilot plant by adding a production line for separating yttrium, samarium, and gadolinium.
The market price of yttrium benefits from the strong financial resources of military and industrial buyers. Barua Costa said: "The demand comes from companies that are relatively indifferent to the unit price of yttrium, so we see very strong market conditions."
The company is optimistic about the future trend of yttrium prices and prefers to maximize the sale of materials on a spot basis and minimize the use of purchase agreements. Barua Costa said: "We hope to sell as few shares as possible on purchase agreements based on financing requirements." "We see an increase in demand, a supply shortage, especially heavy rare earths, so we very much hope to enter the spot market to supply products as soon as possible."
China supply will remain tight
Barua Costa stated that China may implement export controls for a long time, which may support the prices of heavy rare earths.
Aclara believes that the supply of heavy rare earths in China is decreasing. Barua Costa pointed out that China stopped publishing rare earth production quotas in 2024, and he believes this is a signal of supply tightening.
He also attributed China's large-scale production and procurement activities in Myanmar to potential domestic resource shortages. The majority of the ion-mined rare earths imported by China come from Myanmar.
Meanwhile, China's downstream demand is active, using a large amount of rare earths, especially in growing fields such as robotics and electric vehicles.
He believes that this means its downstream industry will benefit from the continuous export controls in two ways. Firstly, Chinese manufacturers will maintain an adequate and relatively low-cost supply of rare earths. Secondly, the input prices for non-Chinese manufacturers that rely on imports from China will rise, thereby reducing the competitiveness of Western manufactured goods rivals.
