Ionic Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:IXR, OTC:IXRRF) has revealed a production schedule for its Belfast Magnet Recycling Demonstration Plant that will continue for 18 months to the third quarter of 2025, as several supply chain participants, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and potential strategic partners visit the facility.
The company is evaluating options for increasing capacity at the Belfast Demonstration Plant to cater for strong demand from rare earth oxide (REO) supply chain participants and the clear monetisation opportunity inherent.
“Excellent” demand for IXR’s technology
“It is exciting to report that both the supply chain appetite and progress at our Demonstration Plant in Belfast has been excellent,” Ionic Rare Earths managing director Tim Harrison said.
“We now have a wonderful showcase for the industry to see first-hand, how we can provide an immediate option for secure, sustainable, alternative magnet rare earths for a fraction of the capital required for new mine and refinery capacity, let alone a substantially reduced technical and deliverability risk profile.
“The demand for recycled and high-quality product from the Belfast Magnet Recycling Demonstration Plant signals that we need to bring more capacity to market and that the latent demand from the supply chain for both the technology offering from Ionic Technologies, plus our unique positioning in Belfast and access to both EU and UK markets, positions us very well to now convert demand to commercial partnerships for the business.
“We are already fully engaged in discussions with groups now looking at the offering from Ionic Technologies as a viable near-term solution to magnet REO sovereign capacity and a disruptor to the tight constraints on the existing supply chain.”
IXR is advancing multiple discussions regarding potential commercial partnerships which would leverage Ionic’s technology for REO production from recycling decarbonisation technologies like permanent magnets from wind turbines.
Cornering the post-China REO market
“It is no exaggeration to state that IonicRE is leading the field in the race to develop an ex-China supply of REOs critical to developing net-zero carbon technologies,” IXR executive chair Brett Lynch said.
“Our Belfast plant is now the first producer of recycled separated magnet REOs in the Western world, a huge achievement for all stakeholders.
“We are now moving rapidly to commercialise rare earth separation, refining and recycling, with planned commercial-scale production likely within just two years, offering investors direct exposure to heavy rare earths market growth.
“The European Union has stipulated the need for increased recycling and with Europe on our doorstep Ionic Technologies has an enormous opportunity to develop a closed loop system with metal, alloy and magnet manufacturers plus OEMs that provides the necessary security of supply.”
The EU opted to increase the recycling requirements of permanent magnets used in wind turbines, electric vehicles and home appliances in provisions for the proposed Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to bolster EU self-sufficiency in the minerals needed for the green and digital transitions.
Article 28 of the draft legislation applies to manufacturers, obliging them to “make publicly available on a free access website the share of neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, boron, samarium, nickel and cobalt” within their products so that they can be collected and recycled.