- The Kingston, Ontario, RapidSX™ Demonstration Plant ("Demo Plant") commissioning process is underway, once commissioned the plant is designed to demonstrate:
- the techno-economic advantages of the RapidSX™ technology platform
- processing tens of tonnes of heavy and light mixed rare earth element concentrates
- running thousands of semi-continuous run-time hours
- producing high-purity NdPr, praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, and dysprosium rare earth elementsfor early OEM product qualification trials
Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2023) - Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF) ("Ucore" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the commissioning process for its RapidSX™ Demonstration Plant ("Demo Plant") for the separation of heavy and light rare earth elements ("REEs"). The Demo Plant is located within Ucore's 5,000 square foot RapidSX™ Commercialization and Demonstration Facility ("CDF") in Kingston, Ontario, and is run by its laboratory partner, Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc.("KPM").
Figure 1 - Close-up Partial Views of Ucore's RapidSX™ REE Separation Demo Plant in Kingston, Ontario
To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1119/152581_ucorefig1.jpg.
Commissioning of the Demo Plant is underway. Once commissioned, the Demo Plant is designed to demonstrate the techno-economic advantages, scale-up, and commercial durability of the RapidSX™ technology platform by processing tens of tonnes of North American-friendly sources of mixed rare earth chemical concentrates in a simulated production environment. The planned output products are high-purity NdPr, praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, and dysprosium REEs, to be incorporated into the early stages of original equipment manufacturers' ("OEM") qualification trials.
Simultaneously, Ucore, its engineering partner, Mech-Chem Associates, Inc. ("Mech-Chem"), and KPM are developing the full-scale engineering for the Company's first Strategic Metals Complex ("SMC"). The SMC is a planned REE separation and rare earth oxide production plant slated to commence construction in the US State of Louisiana this year. It is scheduled to initially process 2,000 tonnes of total rare earth oxides ("TREO") by the end of 2024, increasing to 5,000 tonnes in 2026.
"We are extremely pleased with the work at the CDF in concert with our partners, KPM, Mech-Chem, and a host of other supporting contractors and vendors. As we work toward near-term commercial deployment of the RapidSX™ rare earth element separation technology in North America," stated Mike Schrider, P.E., Ucore's VP and COO. "Implementing the Demo Plant commissioning process is a huge milestone for the team, and this is scheduled to be followed by a series of heavy and light rare earth element process demonstrations separating tens of tonnes of mixed rare earth concentrates over thousands of hours of facility run-time."
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