Chile's Aclara Rare Earth Metal Demonstration Plant Commences Operation with a Daily Capacity of 175 kg

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, rare earth development company Aclara Resources and Chile's CAP Group launched a rare earth metal and alloy demonstration plant at the Huachipato Steel Industrial Park in Talcahuano, Biobío Region, Chile. The facility is built and operated by Aclara Metals, a joint venture equally owned by both parties, and uses molten salt electrolysis to convert neodymium-praseodymium oxide into high-purity rare earth metals and alloys, with a designed nominal daily capacity of up to 175 kg and a target product purity of no less than 99.5%. The plant will verify the industrial operating capability of the process through continuous production testing and provide technical data for subsequent commercial-scale production facilities.

The demonstration facility commissioned this time uses industrial-grade electrolytic cells independently designed by Aclara Metals and the Huachipato technical team, with neodymium-praseodymium oxide as the feedstock. The testing work will adopt a batch production mode to verify the continuous and stable operation capability of the molten salt electrolysis system under actual industrial conditions and to check whether the output metals and alloys meet the quality specifications of potential international customers. Production activities will also be used to accumulate equipment operating experience and train operators for subsequent industrial facilities.

During operation, the plant will collect data on electrolytic cell process parameters, production stability, and product quality. The relevant results will be used for the basic engineering design of the rare earth metal and alloy industrial facility that Aclara plans to build in Louisiana, United States. The project team will also develop predictive digital models based on the test data to optimize electrolysis process control and electrolytic cell operating conditions. The commercial facility is still in the engineering development stage and has not yet entered mass production.

After the completion of the first-phase verification of neodymium-praseodymium metal and alloy production, Aclara Metals is evaluating the addition of a second-phase demonstration process to include dysprosium oxide in the feedstock system to produce neodymium-praseodymium-dysprosium alloys. This expansion plan is still under evaluation, and the specifications of additional equipment, investment amount, and implementation timeline have not yet been announced.

The demonstration plant is linked to the feedstock supply chain of Aclara's Penco rare earth project currently being advanced in Chile. The Penco project is located in the Biobío Region and plans to recover rare earth elements from ion-adsorption clay; its mineral extraction project obtained approval from the regional environmental assessment committee in June 2026. Aclara is also conducting rare earth separation technology trials in Virginia, United States, and its subsequent industrial production plan is intended to connect rare earth oxide separation with metallization processing.