en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chilean Cobalt Corporation has initiated Phase Two of its NeoRe rare earth project in southern Chile, including expanded exploration, metallurgical testing, conceptual engineering, and permitting, following the completion of Phase One technical assessments.
The project, advanced by Chilean Cobalt Corporation and NeoRE SpA through an earn-in and option agreement, is being pursued for 100% ownership by the US-based company amid growing attention on Western supply chains for critical minerals related to clean technology, defense, electric mobility, and energy transition.
Phase One included geological data collection, preliminary modeling, and mineral continuity assessment. Building on this, Phase Two's expanded exploration, metallurgical testing, engineering studies, and permitting will support subsequent project development. The company reported that year-to-date exploration activities have reached 2,000 meters of drilling through a parallel drilling program.
As part of technical progress, the company has sent initial rare earth carbonate concentrate samples to potential strategic processing and offtake partners in the US for downstream testing and evaluation, aiming to verify processing capabilities and advance potential commercial relationships. At the pilot plant, a third batch of material has entered processing, while carbonate cleaning continues for the first two batches, striving to maintain continuous production of rare earth carbonate concentrate at the facility.
Phase Two also includes mining conceptual engineering to establish a technical basis for evaluating future permitting and different development scenarios. The study considered production capacities of approximately 5,000 tons per month and 10,000 tons per month. These data will help determine the project's potential expansion scale and its final operational configuration.
Duncan Blount, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Chilean Cobalt Corporation, noted that the NeoRe deposit's composition is biased toward heavy rare earths, including yttrium, dysprosium, and terbium. These elements are considered strategic resources due to their use in high-value technology applications, covering permanent magnets, electronic components, defense systems, electric vehicles, and renewable energy generation. The company believes the project could help establish a scalable Western supply chain for critical rare earths, but its progress will depend on technical, metallurgical, environmental, and commercial outcomes in subsequent phases.
In addition to the NeoRe project, Chilean Cobalt Corporation is developing the La Cobaltera and El Cofre projects in Chile, focusing on cobalt- and copper-bearing products. The company has secured support from Glencore as a future buyer for the cobalt- and copper-bearing products generated from these operations.
