Highlights
- Ucore Rare Metals secures $18.4M DoD contract to build a commercial-scale rare earth separation plant in Louisiana.
- The project aims to break China’s 98%+ monopoly on heavy rare earth element (HREE) refining by developing a faster, more cost-effective separation process.
- RapidSXT technology promises to separate rare earth elements 10-20 times faster with reduced capital and operating costs.
- The project targets critical elements for defense and technology sectors.
In a pivotal development for North America’s rare earth supply chain, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU; OTCQX: UURAF) has officially launched its $18.4 million Phase 2 U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)-funded project to build a commercial-scale rare earth separation plant in Alexandria, Louisiana. The initiative marks a major step toward domestic refining of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs)—the strategic subset crucial to defense and advanced technologies, including F-35 engines, radar systems, and EV motors. Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx), however, has questions.
This award follows a prior $4 million Phase 1 contract, under which Ucore demonstrated successful separation of terbium and dysprosium using its proprietary RapidSX™ technology—a solvent-extraction-based platform promising faster and cheaper HREE separation. A recent $1.1M milestone payment confirms this achievement.
Now entering full commercial engineering mode, Ucore’s team—alongside DoD partners—is focused on designing the first full-scaleRapidSX™ machine and completing engineering assessments in both Ontario (Canada) and Louisiana (U.S.). The goal: demonstrate early production readiness of salable, separated REE products by late 2026 or early 2027.
Strategic Implications
The timing is critical. China controls 98%+ of global HREE refining, and recent Chinese export restrictions underscore U.S. vulnerability. This latest DoD commitment—on the heels of the July 10 MP Materials $58.5M DoD contract—signals Washington’s stepped-up race to break Beijing’s monopoly on advanced material processing.
The Technology
RapidSX™ is a next-generation rare earth separation technology developed by Innovation Metals Corp. (IMC) and licensed to Ucore Rare Metals Inc. It’s designed to disrupt the slow, capital-heavy process of traditional solvent extraction (SX) by making rare earth separation—especially for critical heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) like dysprosium and terbium—faster, cheaper, and more scalable. Rather than reinventing the chemistry, RapidSX™ reengineers the hardware, applying proven separation principles in a more efficient, modular format.
Instead of requiring rows of large chemical tanks like conventional SX plants, RapidSX™ uses a column-based, continuous-flow system that purportedly dramatically reduces the footprint and increases throughput. Ucore claims this setup can achieve separations 10 to 20 times faster while slashing capital and operating costs. The system is also flexible enough to handle both light and heavy rare earths, making it suitable for a wide range of feedstocks and strategic applications—including defense, electric vehicles, and advanced electronics.
So far, RapidSX™ has demonstrated technical success at the pilot level, having achieved the separation of terbium and dysprosium under its U.S. Department of Defense Phase 1 contract. Now, with a $22.4 million DoD-backed award, Ucore is scaling up to a commercial demonstration facility in Louisiana. But challenges remain: the technology has yet to prove itself at full industrial scale, key offtake partners have not been publicly announced, and long-term intellectual property protection will be critical. If successful, RapidSX™ could mark a turning point in the push to build a rare earth supply chain independent of China.
Unanswered Questions
Yet key uncertainties remain, according to the REEx network:
- Is RapidSX™ commercially scalable beyond bench and demo scale?
- How long can the technology operation—for example can it operate continuously for more than half a year?
- What are the long-term offtake commitments? No contracts with magnet makers or defense integrators have yet been disclosed.
- What is Ucore’s CapEx burn rate and path to profitability, especially given the company’s parallel ambition to develop the Bokan-Dotson Ridge mine in Alaska?
- Will Ucore gain additional state or federal incentives akin to those secured by MP Materials, Lynas, or NioCorp?
As REEx continues to track federal investments into reshoring critical mineral capabilities, Ucore’s Louisiana project will be a bellwether for whether public-private partnerships can build a viable ex-China rare earth ecosystem.
Investor Note: Ucore trades on the TSX-V under UCU and OTCQX as UURAF.
Rare Earth Exchanges™ Investor Insight
| Category | Details |
| Project | Ucore SMC Rare Earth Refining Facility (LA) |
| DoD Phase 2 Award | $18.4M (announced July 14, 2025) |
| Technology | RapidSX™ (Solvent Extraction-based) |
| Elements Targeted | Dysprosium (Dy), Terbium (Tb), Nd, Pr |
| Status | Engineering & Site Development Underway |
| Risk Factors | Tech scale-up, operations continuously, financing, offtake uncertainty |
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