A £100 million chemical engineering project that is believed to become Europe’s first rare earth metals processing facility has been awarded planning permission.
Rare earth metals are used for the manufacturing of magnets for wind turbine generators and electric vehicle (EV) motors. Currently, these elements are supplied mainly from China.
The new facility, based in Saltend on the Humber, will target annual production of around 12,500 tonnes of rare earth oxides, including 4,500 tonnes of magnet metal rare earth oxides, which would represent approximately 5% of 2025 projected world demand.
Pensana plc (LON:PRE) explores and mines neodymium, praseodymium, and rare earth minerals. The company is looking to establish the world’s first fully sustainable magnet metal rare earth oxide producer at the Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership Yorkshire, UK.