Ionic Rare Earths Limited (IXRRF) WSP Global to Manage Magnet Recycling Feasibility Study
The Board of Ionic Rare Earths Limited (ASX:IXR) (OTCMKTS:IXRRF) is pleased to advise that Ionic Technologies International Ltd ("Ionic Technologies"), a 100% owned subsidiary based in Belfast, UK, has progressed the delivery of a feasibility study for a commercial magnet recycling facility, based in Belfast, UK. Ionic Technologies has developed rare earth element (REE) separation and refining technology and applied this to the recycling of spent permanent Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets to enable the creation of sustainable and traceable rare-earth supply chains.
Following the successful award of grants from the UK Government's CLIMATES program (ASX 12 September 2023), Ionic Technologies has selected WSP as the engineer and project manager for delivery of the feasibility study for the magnet recycling facility in Belfast.
The feasibility study forms the most significant single output of the CLIMATES project that Ionic Technologies will complete in partnership with the British Geological Survey (BGS), which will provide a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility and supply side dynamics of a magnet recycling facility, within the UK.
Ionic Rare Earth's Managing Director, Tim Harrison, commented;
"Ionic Rare Earths' focus is on securing critical elements for supply chain in the new economy. We are harnessing our technology to accelerate mining, refining and recycling of magnet and heavy rare earths critical for energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and defence."
"The confirmation of WSP as the service provider tasked with delivering the feasibility study into a first-of-kind commercial magnet recycling facility in Belfast, utilising our patented technology, represents a significant step towards the construction of a commercial scale magnet recycling facility, and in doing so establishing a domestic supply chain of secondary Rare Earth Oxides (REOs) for the UK."
"We will be working in partnership with WSP on the feasibility study, using our patented processes and knowledge gained through operation of our Demonstration Plant and we expect to have a costed solution by mid-2024".
"We are pleased that we have achieved this key milestone of selecting a suitable partner as part of the CLIMATES program, in collaboration with British Geological Survey, which will deliver on not only this feasibility study, but also the supply side dynamics of a magnet recycling facility, within the UK."
"The decision to select WSP as the service partner on this landmark study was made because of WSP's prominence, experience and reputation in the chemical industry, as well as their demonstrable capability to deliver a study that is closely aligned to our overall project objectives."
"WSP is a world leading engineering professional services business, and has technical expertise in engineering, science, architecture, planning, surveying and environmental management; all of which will represent key deliverables for this project, which will be served by their UK-based Process Engineering Centre for Excellence."
The feasibility study will commence this month and is expected to be completed in mid-2024.
Defining Supply Side Dynamics of a Magnet Rare Earth Recycling Plant in the UK
Ionic Technologies and BGS are undertaking an ambitious and advanced study into the REE ecosystem within the UK and the feasibility of a first-of-kind commercial magnet rare earth oxide (REO) production facility in Belfast.
Ionic Technologies and BGS have created a collaborative working group to develop strategies for the establishment of a secure supply of REEs for the UK, as well as satisfying Ionic Technologies' technical requirements to enable the next phase of rapid growth to commercial scale in the UK.
The project will expand on the existing BGS material stocks and flows model for REEs by incorporating new, pertinent data on wind turbines, electric vehicles (EVs) and other automotive sources, all containing significant REE content, which could be recycled within the UK. With this data, Ionic Technologies will be able to specify a commercial facility, capable of receiving both end-of-life and waste (swarf) magnet material of varying quality, processing this material through a plant designed using our patented technology, to produce REOs with purity of 99.5%+ quality. REOs of this quality can be used in the production of high specification magnets, utilised in EVs, wind turbines, defence and other applications.
In addition to a significant expansion of publicly owned data on the REE eco-system in the UK, the project will also equip Ionic Technologies with essential technical data to create a source of REOs that has the potential to provide the UK with a secure, sovereign supply of magnet rare earths, independent of geo-political influence and supply chain insecurity.
Technology Overview
Since its founding in 2015, as a spinout from Queens University Belfast (QUB), Ionic Technologies has developed processes for the separation and recovery of REEs from permanent magnets.
The technology developed is a step up in efficient, non-hazardous, and economically viable processing with minimal environmental footprint.
Ionic Technologies has demonstrated capability to achieve near complete extraction of REEs from spent magnets and waste (swarf) to produce high value, separated magnet REO products exceeding 99.9% REO content.
Ionic Technologies now has "first mover" advantage in the industrial elemental extraction of separated REOs from spent magnets and waste (swarf), enabling near term magnet REO production capability to satisfy growing demand from the energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and defence sectors.
Ionic Technologies' proprietary technology provides a universal method for the recovery of high purity grade rare earth elements from lower quality and variable grade magnets, to be used in the manufacture of modern high-performance and high specification permanent magnets required to support substantial growth in both EV and wind turbine deployment.
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For Australian Media Nigel Kassulke Teneo E: Nigel.Kassulke@Teneo.com T: +61 (0) 407 904 874 For Investor Relations Peter Taylor NWR Communications E: peter@nwrcommunications.com.au T: +61 (0) 412 036 231 For UK Media Tim Blythe BlytheRay E: Tim.Blythe@BlytheRay.com T: + (0) 20 7138 3553 For NI Media Katie Doran Lanyon Group E: Katie.Doran@LanyonGroup.com T: +44 (0) 28 9018 3242
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