Pilot / R&D

A rare earth pilot plant runs a processing flowsheet continuously at small scale to show it works on a specific feed before anyone builds a commercial plant. Pilot and demonstration plants, and the public research centers that host them, are where new separation, beneficiation and recovery methods produce the data that buyers and feasibility studies rely on. The International Energy Agency says the step from laboratory innovation to commercial operation "remains a major hurdle" (IEA, May 2026).

Why a rare earth pilot plant comes before a commercial one

The IEA says project costs vary widely with deposit type, ore grade, recovery rates and the mix of light and heavy rare earths, and that real-world processing circuits are typically customized for specific ores (IEA).

Piloting also sits between a project and its money. The IEA counts pilot testing among the costs a developer carries before a final investment decision, and says buyers in sectors with strict safety standards typically want piloting and lengthy qualification before they sign long-term supply contracts (IEA).

Pilot and demonstration plants are capital-intensive and carry significant technical risk that private investors may be reluctant to take on, the IEA says (IEA). REEx put the limit plainly in May 2026: pilot plants can validate chemistry, but an industry also needs capital, customers, engineering talent, downstream integration and time (REEx).

Public R&D programs and shared pilot facilities

• Critical Materials Innovation Hub, United States. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established the Hub in 2013, and Ames National Laboratory leads it as a consortium of national laboratories, universities and industry partners. Its director, Thomas Lograsso, told a House subcommittee in April 2026 that DOE renewed the Hub in 2023 for a third five-year phase and that it advances technologies toward pilot-scale demonstration and early commercialization (Lograsso testimony).
• ANSTO and the Australian Critical Minerals R&D Hub. ANSTO's minerals services include building and operating pilot and demonstration plants (ANSTO). Two new facilities opened at its Lucas Heights campus on May 8, 2026, one of them for clay-hosted rare earth deposits (ANSTO, May 2026). Geoscience Australia, a Hub member with ANSTO and CSIRO, says the Hub-supported facilities help reduce project risk, time and cost in feasibility studies (Geoscience Australia, May 2026). Australian Rare Earths said in April 2026 that it had about 30 metric tons of Koppamurra ore ready to ship to the facility (AR3, April 2026). In September 2026 it said its pilot there had moved on to mixed rare earth hydroxide production, which it plans to refine into mixed rare earth oxide samples for prospective buyers, with the campaign planned to continue to December 2026 (AR3, September 2026).

Company pilot and demonstration plants

Most of these plants test separation. LKAB's tests byproduct recovery.

• USA Rare Earth, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. USA Rare Earth announced the commissioning of its hydrometallurgical demonstration facility in June 2026 and began an initial campaign to de-risk three flowsheets in parallel: Round Top ore, third-party mixed rare earth carbonate including material from Serra Verde's Pela Ema mine, and recycled magnet swarf. In August 2026 it said it was targeting heavy rare earth oxide production in the third quarter of 2026, and that in July the facility had made dysprosium oxide and NdPr oxide samples from recycled magnet scrap that it called commercial-grade (USA Rare Earth, August 2026).
• Rare Element Resources, Upton, Wyoming. Operations at the company's demonstration-scale processing and separation plant formally began in March 2026, initially using stockpiled Bear Lodge material. The project began under a DOE award to a consortium led by General Atomics, an affiliate of majority shareholder Synchron; the company said it expected the award to be transferred to it in 2026 but that there was no assurance it would be. In August 2026 the company said it expected full end-to-end processing to start in the third quarter of 2026 and continue for up to 12 months (Rare Element 10-Q).
• Ucore, Kingston, Ontario. In August 2026, Ucore said it had made 99.5% NdPr sample material from two feeds, one derived from ionic clay and one from North American bastnaesite, at its Kingston Commercialization and Demonstration Facility, for customer qualification (Ucore, August 2026). In September 2026 it said it was expanding samarium and gadolinium process development there for its planned Louisiana complex (Ucore, September 2026).
• Técnicas Reunidas, Madrid, Spain. In June 2026, the company said the pilot plant at its Madrid Technology Center had produced its first kilograms of NdPr oxide meeting commercial purity and specifications, using its RARETECH process, within the EU PERMANET project it leads (Técnicas Reunidas).
• LKAB, Luleå, Sweden. LKAB says its demonstration plant will "further develop and verify" a process for material streams from iron ore production that it treats as waste, with results and the park's environmental permit forming the basis for scale-up decisions (LKAB, January 2025). On September 29, 2026, LKAB said the plant was due to begin operating soon (LKAB).
• Eti Maden, Beylikova, Turkey. Turkey's Nuclear Regulatory Authority granted an operating license on August 4, 2026, for the Beylikova pilot facility, covering the quarry, ore preparation and beneficiation, and storage for a barite, fluorite, rare earth and thorium ore (NDK, August 2026).

In Chile, REEx reported that Aclara Resources and CAP inaugurated a 50/50 joint venture metals demonstration plant on October 7, 2026, and that no measured campaign results, operating costs or customer qualifications had been disclosed (REEx).

Frequently asked questions