{"id":1181899,"date":"2020-05-01T14:07:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T19:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1021773"},"modified":"2020-05-01T14:07:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T19:07:05","slug":"round-top-to-establish-us-rare-earths-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1181899","title":{"rendered":"Round Top to establish US rare earths supply chain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A lesson to be learned from the US-China trade war and coronavirus-induced lockdown wreaking havoc on markets and hitting mining production outlooks hard \u2013 is that North America needs to establish more robust domestic supply chains.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The US responded to the covid-19 crisis by shutting its borders and contracting production, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/worldwide-mining-disruptions\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"operations at mines worldwide ground to a halt (opens in a new tab)\">operations at mines worldwide ground to a halt<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Shutdowns to manufacturing plants in Beijing that could potentially cut off US rare earths exports woke the nation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/web\/the-impact-of-critical-minerals-on-national-security\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"up to the fact that it is reliant on China for all rare earths needs.  (opens in a new tab)\">up to the fact that it is reliant on China for all rare earths needs. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The US government has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/us-steps-up-efforts-to-limit-chinas-control-of-critical-minerals\/\">stepped up efforts to ensure the supply of critical minerals<\/a>&nbsp;from outside China. As part of those initiatives, it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Greenland to conduct a hyper-spectral survey to map the country\u2019s geology. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>The $14 billion-a-year rare earth&nbsp;magnet&nbsp;market is more than 60% controlled by China which, under&nbsp;<em>Made in China 2025<\/em>, is increasingly using rare earth&nbsp;magnets in finished and semi-finished products, as opposed to exporting the&nbsp;magnets<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Demand for rare earth&nbsp;magnets is being<br \/>\ndriven mainly by electric vehicles, wind generators, medical devices, smart<br \/>\nphones, and aerospace and defense applications. <\/p>\n<p>The $14 billion-a-year rare earth\u00a0magnet\u00a0market is more than 60% controlled by China which, under\u00a0<em>Made in China 2025<\/em>, is increasingly using rare earth\u00a0magnets in finished and semi-finished products, as opposed to exporting the\u00a0magnets, says USA Rare Earth, the funding and development partner of the Round Top heavy rare earth and critical minerals project in West Texas, and industry sources estimate the rare earth\u00a0magnet market will nearly double by 2027.<\/p>\n<p>USA Rare Earth is also purchasing the equipment necessary to build the only rare earth magnet production facility in the Americas.<\/p>\n<p>The only active rare earths mine in the US is Mountain Pass in California. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"After a mothball period, (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/molycorp-shuts-down-mountain-pass-rare-earth-plant\/\" >After a mothball period,<\/a> it is back in production \u2013 but is now owned by MP Materials, which almost a tenth-owned by a Chinese investor. <\/p>\n<p>When the US Geological survey does its annual report on mills and production \u2013 the US is technically producing zero rare earths oxides because what is coming out of Mountain Pass is being shipped to China, Dan McGroarty, head of government affairs for USA Rare Earth told MINING.COM.<\/p>\n<p>McGroarty said while around 2015, the Obama administration designated two rare earths, tirbium and&nbsp;desposium&nbsp;an are on the rare earths list for acquisition into the defense stockpile. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was at a point where there was no tirbium and&nbsp;desposium production in the US. Those are the two largest, by volume, rare earths that we have at Round Top. In that respect, there\u2019s a very strong alignment,\u201d McGroarty said. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Round Top is a heavy rare earth \u2013 dominant deposit, which is unique outside of China. &nbsp;It also includes uranium, beryllium, gallium, hafnium and zirconium \u2013 all of which are on the US Government&#8217;s Critical Minerals List. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe decision that the president made last summer, under the Defence Production Act (DPA) \u2026to designate a whole supply chain for rare earths as an urgency material under the DPA, that\u2019s what allows the funding in the rare earths space \u2013 and there is more coming,\u201d he said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got a very unique deposit in a number of respects \u2013 we have 16 of the 17 rare earths, with many in the rare earths categories that speak to a number of defense applications, and manufacturing. It is probably the largest heavy rare earths deposit in the world outside of China,\u201d Pini Althaus, CEO of USA Rare Earth said. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1021952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth-720x720.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Pini-Althaus-CEO-USA-Rare-Earth-80x80.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption>Pini Althaus, CEO, USA Rare Earth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe also have a significant amount of lithium<br \/>\nsulphides, so we have a very diversified project\u2026 with infrastructure in place.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>USA Rare Earth envisions a 130 year plus mine life on the project, but the PEA is focused on the first 20 years. <\/p>\n<p>Althaus said they are able to heap leach the<br \/>\ndeposit, which is rare for most rare earths deposits. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetween our capex and opex being low \u2013 we are able to compete with China on pricing,\u201d Althaus said. <\/p>\n<p>USA Rare Earth announced in December 2019 they<br \/>\nare opening a pilot plant facility in&nbsp;Wheat Ridge,<br \/>\nColorado&nbsp;for the purpose of fully separating and purifying rare<br \/>\nearth and other tech metals and critical minerals, leached&nbsp;from ore from<br \/>\nthe&nbsp;Round Top&nbsp;project. <\/p>\n<p>The Colorado pilot plant will be the first processing facility outside of&nbsp;China&nbsp;with the ability to separate the full range of rare earths \u2013 lights, mids and heavies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Althaus said the plant will be moved to Texas,<br \/>\nwhere they will begin mine construction. <\/p>\n<p>The Wheat Ridge plant is the second piece of a 100% US-based rare earths oxide supply chain, drawing on feedstock from\u00a0Round Top. <\/p>\n<p>Construction on the Colorado facility is complete, and is slated to open in the next week, Althaus said. <\/p>\n<p>Early in April, the company announced that that it has purchased the neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) permanent&nbsp;magnet&nbsp;manufacturing equipment&nbsp;formerly owned and operated in North Carolina by Hitachi Metals America. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Round Top has been part of a Department of Defense grant, as the DOD picks the rare earths it wants processed and purified <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>USA Rare Earth will warehouse the equipment pending a decision about where to locate the new&nbsp;magnet&nbsp;operation, with the priority being good access to the Round Top project. <\/p>\n<p>The US Military is among possible investors \u2013 and<br \/>\nRound Top is part of the solicitations. <\/p>\n<p>There have been two solicitations that have come out of the Department of Defense (DOD). The first closed late 2019 around processing and is waiting on a response. On March 2, there was another solicitation around light rare earths. <\/p>\n<p>Round Top has been part of a DOD grant, as the<br \/>\nDOD picks the rare earths it wants processed and purified. <\/p>\n<p>USA Rare Earth announced in March the appointment of retired Army General Paul J. Kern to its board of directors.<\/p>\n<p>General Kern is a member of the Defense Science<br \/>\nBoard, established by federal law in 1956 to provide independent advice and<br \/>\nrecommendations on scientific, technical, manufacturing, acquisitions process<br \/>\nand policies, and other matters of interest to the Department of Defense.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>USA Rare Earth aims to have Round Top in production within 30 months, but McGroarty\u00a0said if they can expedite the timeline \u2013 they will. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe decision that the president made last<br \/>\nsummer, under the Defence Production Act (DPA) \u2026to designate a whole supply<br \/>\nchain for rare earths as an urgency material under the DPA, that\u2019s what allows<br \/>\nthe funding in the rare earths space \u2013 and there is more coming.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere will be a significant impact on the<br \/>\neconomy,\u201d he added. We\u2019re talking about a $500 billion to $1 trillion impact,<br \/>\nin [terms of] job creation and manufacturing\u2026everything to the electric vehicle<br \/>\nsector,\u201d said Althaus.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom a practical standpoint, one of the reasons a lot of companies have gone offshore, labour costs aside, the raw materials and processing capabilities are in China,\u201d Althaus said.&nbsp; \u201cIt\u2019s a national security issue, its an economic issue, a manufacturing issue, its job creation, and the US \u2026 is trying to bring that back home,\u201d said Althaus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shutdowns to manufacturing plants in Beijing that could potentially cut off US rare earths exports woke the nation up to the fact that it is reliant China for all rare earths needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[624,2849,369,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181899"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1181899"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1181943,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181899\/revisions\/1181943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1181899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1181899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1181899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}