London, October 20th (Argus) - Neo Performance Materials, a rare earth materials producer headquartered in Toronto, Canada, announced on Monday that it has received a maximum of 126 million euros (approximately 141 million US dollars) from the EU Innovation Fund for the expansion of its rare earth separation, metal and magnet manufacturing project in Estonia.
Neo stated that the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has invited the company to prepare a funding agreement for its green assets that have been included in the EU strategic supply project.
This fund will help Neo expand its rare earth permanent magnet industrial chain layout in Estonia and support an additional 3,000 tons/year of permanent magnet production capacity. Among them, Neo plans to supply one-third of the new capacity to EU offshore wind power projects.
Neo expects that this expansion will increase its magnet production capacity from the current 2,000 tons/year to approximately 5,000 tons/year. The funding will cover the rare earth separation, metal and magnet manufacturing processes.
Earlier this month, the European Commission has listed Neo's Silmet 2.0 project as a strategic project under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act.
Neo's CEO, Rahim Suleman, said: "This funding support will help us further expand the magnet production capacity and better serve the needs of customers in the European wind power, electric vehicles, and industrial automation sectors."
CINEA plans to sign the formal funding agreement in March 2027. Neo estimates that the expansion project will take 2 to 3 years to complete construction.
