Work begins on construction of UK’s first rare earth separation facility
May 19, 2021
Pensana Rare Earths Plc, headquartered in London, UK, reports that the first steps to establish the UK’s first rare earth separation facility have been put into motion with the recent COVID-19 restrictions being eased in the UK.
Team members from Pensana, along with representatives of px Group, an infrastructure solutions company; and Wood Group, an engineering consultancy, all based in the UK, began work on-site at the Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, where the facility will be constructed.
The $125 million rare earth separation facility is expected to create over 100 jobs and supply over 5% of the world’s critical magnet metal oxides for industries including electric vehicles (EVs) and offshore wind turbines.
Paul Atherley, Pensana’s chairman, stated, “The works on-site at Saltend mark the early stage of delivering Pensana’s nationally significant rare earth separation facility, creating an independent, sustainable supply chain for magnet-critical industries like electric vehicles and offshore wind. Saltend will become important to the UK’s Net Zero ambitions, bring high-value manufacturing jobs back to Humber and create a platform on which sustainable supply chains can be established in the UK.”
