Aclara Introduces Super Pure Rare Earth Carbonate ("SPREC")
Aclara Resources Inc. has announced the successful development of "Super Pure Rare Earth Carbonate" (SPREC), a high-purity intermediate product containing approximately 99% rare earths, produced at its pilot plant in Santiago, Chile. This innovation represents a significant technical advancement over conventional Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC), which typically features rare earth concentrations as low as 40%, by eliminating impurities and significantly upgrading heavy rare earths concentration.
The technology leverages Aclara's solvent extraction (SX) know-how from its U.S. downstream platform and applies it upstream within its Circular Mineral Harvesting (CMH) process. The company plans to implement this standard at both the Carina Project in Brazil and the Penco Module in Chile. SPREC is expected to become the standard intermediate rare earth product produced from both projects upon the commencement of commercial operations.
The technical advantages of SPREC include the elimination of impurities that typically affect downstream separation into individual rare earth oxides and an improved flexibility to blend production from the Carina Project and Penco Module. This allows for efficient separation using the same SX circuit and reduces logistics costs due to the transportation of a lower volume, higher-value product. The CAPEX and OPEX for this process addition are not expected to be material when added to the existing CMH process.
The Company is currently fine-tuning processing technology at its pilot plant in Santiago, Chile, as part of broader engineering and development work for its Brazil and Chile projects.
"SPREC is a value-added product that results from applying its solvent extraction technology within our operations in Brazil and Chile. Our objective is to reduce operational risk at the separation plant, and this new stage allows us to significantly reduce impurities, which are precisely the main source of complexity in the solvent extraction plant," said Ramón Barúa, Chief Executive Officer.
"Also, as we intend to separate the rare earths coming from Brazil and Chile as a blend, having the purest possible carbonate reduces variability in the separation stage. Finally, this innovation not only simplifies downstream separation but also allows Brazil and Chile to capture more value from their mineral resources, as they will be exporting a higher value-added product," Barúa added.