US rare-earth facility claims independence from Chinese supply

Phoenix Tailings opens rare-earth metallisation facility with capacity of more than 1,000t per year.

The company says the new facility has zero reliance on Chinese inputs, equipment or technology.

It boldly claims that 'the metallisation facility will solve a critical gap in the US supply chain – strengthening the US economy and ensuring adversarial nations do not dictate American autonomy'.

Phoenix Tailings sells to customers within the US and allied nations in the automotive, defence and medical device sectors.

While at first it will produce 200t of rare-earth metals, the facility has the capacity for five times that.

Initially it will manufacture neodymium-praseodymium and dysprosium-iron alloy, before expanding to include dysprosium, terbium, samarium, yttrium, gadolinium, germanium, gallium and other key metals.

'We are opening this facility at a critical point for the United States. For decades, China has dominated the global rare-earth supply chain, which places the autonomy of the United States at risk,' said Phoenix Tailings co-founder and CEO Nick Myers.

Supporters include Envisioning Partners, Builders Vision, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Techstars and Presidio, the venture arm of Sumitomo Corporation, and several other key investors.

Phoenix Tailings says it currently operates domestic refining facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and ships final metal products globally.