Highlights

• Critical Metals and Romania's FPCU announce joint venture to build a rare earth processing facility.
• The facility will be fed by Greenland's Tanbreez project concentrates.
• The CEO claims the project will 'dismantle China's stranglehold' on rare earths.
• China still controls 80-90% of global refining capacity.
• Key questions remain unanswered:
  • Environmental permits.
  • Validated flowsheet for commercial-scale separation.
  • Sourcing for reagents and energy.

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Rare Earth Exchanges has suggested Europe will accelerate its rare earth deal-making activity.  And a Reuters report this week reveals that Critical Metals (opens in a new tab) (CRML) will form a joint venture with Romania’s Feldioara Uranium Concentrate Processing Plant (opens in a new tab) (FPCU) to build a rare earth processing facility fed by concentrates from the company’s Tanbreez project in Greenland.

The headline signals momentum: Europe wants rare earths, Europe needs rare earths, and here is a deal that suggests Europe might finally process rare earths. But at Rare Earth Exchanges, we follow the value chain—not the press release—and the nuances matter.

A Bold Promise: “Dismantling China’s Stranglehold”

CEO Tony Sage declared:

“We’re not just building a plant—we’re dismantling China’s stranglehold on rare earths and empowering Europe.”

It’s a cinematic line fit for an investor roadshow. But factually, Europe remains almost entirely dependent on Chinese separation and magnet manufacturing, with China controlling 80–90%of global refining. One Romanian facility—even if built, financed, permitted, and operating at design capacity—cannot meaningfully “dismantle” this dominance. The statement is enthusiastic, not engineering.

What is accurate: Tanbreez is considered one of the more important heavy rare earth deposits outside China, with a potential supply of dysprosium and terbium—critical for permanent magnets.

The Workable Truths Behind the Announcement

Reuters accurately notes several concrete elements:

• The JV will receive 50% of Tanbreez concentrates for the mine’s full life.
• The plant aims to produce aerospace- and military-grade magnet materials, a high-value but technically challenging milestone.
• Critical Metals raised $50 million through a PIPE deal to advance the project.

These are real milestones. But missing from the report are fundamental questions:

• Does the plant have environmental permits?
• Has a flowsheet been validated for heavy-rare-earth separation at commercial scale?
• Where will the facility source reagents, waste-handling capacity, and energy?

Without these details, the project is directional, not definitive.

Europe’s Strategic Need—and Strategic Narrative

Romania’s interest makes sense. The EU has spent years warning about overreliance on China, but has struggled to operationalize alternatives. A processing facility tied to Greenlandic feedstock fits Brussels’ desire for a local, secure, China-reduced supply chain.

But Reuters echoes company rhetoric without interrogating feasibility. Investors deserve clarity: Europe wants a rare earth renaissance—but wanting and building are not the same.

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