Canada Rare Earth (TSXV: LL) has commissioned a study to select the optimal location for its proposed South American rare earth refinery.
In a press release, the Vancouver-based company said that it has investigated various locations across nine countries over the last few years and has narrowed the scope to six regions within South America.
The miner is looking at tailings as an important component of the proprietary concentrate sources it is securing for its integrated rare earth and complementary products supply chain
The study, thus, will consider refinery permitting, logistics and government support such as grants, tax deferrals and loans in determining the two best regions in which to situate a full spectrum refinery capable of producing a saleable rare earth concentrate and the complete range of commercially traded rare earths including Nd, Pr and heavy elements.
Once the site has been selected, Canada Rare Earth plans to utilize available, existing proprietary processing technology for the production of rare earth products including both heavy and light elements.
“Many western governments and businesses are looking to Canadian and American based organizations to provide alternatives to foreign-sources of rare earths,” Chris Goodman, head of Canada Rare Earth’s South American operations, said in the media brief. “Our company is focused on becoming the leading western supplier of rare earth products including concentrate, oxides and metals. Wherever possible we strive to source our feedstock from tailings to minimize the requirement for new mining operations whilst we work to extract value from past mining activities.”