Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership has been selected by Pensana Rare Earths Plc for the UK’s first proposed rare earth processing facility with a view to helping create the world’s first fully sustainable magnet metal supply chain.
Working with Wood Group, the UK engineering consultants, the processing facility would become one of only two major producers outside China of rare earth oxides used in the manufacture of powerful permanent magnets, critical to the offshore wind and electric vehicle industries, it said.
UK investment minister Gerry Grimstone said: “We very much welcome the proposal to establish a fully sustainable rare earth oxide magnet metal processing facility in the Humber region.
“This facility is an important step in the establishment of a permanent magnet supply chain in the UK which could support a range of industries important to building back greener and our Net Zero ambitions.”
The Saltend Chemicals Park is a cluster of world class chemicals and renewable energy businesses including BP Petrochemicals, Ineos, Nippon Gohsei and Air Products, strategically located on the Humber estuary, a gateway to Europe and the UK’s busiest ports complex.
The 370-acre site is managed by the PX Group which will provide a range of services including power, water, reagents, waste disposal, centralised control and administration for the facility, with Pensana focusing on its operation.
Chairman Paul Atherley said: “It is very clear that it is no longer acceptable for British and European companies to import the raw materials critical to the Green economy from unsustainable sources.
The Saltend facility has the potential to become a world class producer of rare earth oxides and to help establish a sustainable supply chain for the manufacture of powerful permanent magnets critical for the offshore wind and electric vehicle industries in the UK and Europe.”
The company is looking to commence development of the Longonjo mine in Angola in the first quarter of next year and bring it online as the first major rare earth mine in over a decade.
By importing mixed rare earth sulphates from Longonjo and processing them into separated magnet metal oxides in the UK, for the first time customers can purchase these critical raw materials with confidence that they have been sourced and processed sustainably, the company said.
Wood Group and Pensana are working closely with the px Group to finalise the scoping study of the proposed facility which is expected to highlight the site’s international competitiveness in relation to power, labour and reagents costs.
Detailed discussions with local councils and experienced planning agents have confirmed that subject to a final investment decision and funding being available, the necessary planning permission for the proposed UK facility can potentially be obtained with sufficient time for it to be constructed contemporaneously with the Longonjo mine development.
Pensana added that it has begun discussion with the Department for International Trade regarding the establishment of a sustainable permanent magnet supply chain in the UK and is working with the various initiatives supporting the electric vehicle industry and the offshore wind industry in the UK.