Phoenix Tailings has chosen Rochester, New York, as the site for a $375 million rare earth separation plant. It is part of a $1.2 billion, multifacility rare earth processing complex to be built across several Northeastern US states.
The full project is backed by a $500 million loan commitment from the Department of Defense. The separation facility will be able to process mined ore and recycled rare earth magnets.
The plant is scheduled to start production next year and reach full capacity by 2028, when it will produce roughly 4,000 metric tons of rare earth oxides per year.
The US federal government has committed billions of dollars to jump-start domestic rare earth processing because the vast majority of rare earth refining and magnet production happens in China.
The project is one of several US efforts to build alternative supply chains for critical minerals used in magnets, catalysts and electronics.
