Ucore talks to US Senators about rare earths
A seaplane lands at Kendrick Bay at Rare Metals Bokan Mountain Rare earth project of Ucore on Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska.
Ucore Rare Earth Inc. announced that they met with Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on separate visits to Ketchikan, Alaska, to discuss Ucore's promise as a safe domestic source of rare earth resources that are critical to US defense, manufacturing and industry needs.
"We are excited to partner with two influential federal senators who both recognize the importance of a secure domestic supply chain for critical materials," said Randy Johnson, member of the Ucore Rare Metals Advisory Board. “Senator Murkowski has a keen interest in critical materials legislation, most recently as a sponsor of the bipartite American Mineral Security Act with Senator Sullivan, and is actively involved in developing a critical REE supply chain in Alaska. We are also pleased that Senator Sullivan, an excellent member of the US Marine Corps and an active member of the Armed Services Committee, has expressed an interest in the activities of Ucore, particularly with the capabilities of the Defense Production Act Title 3 program. "
Title 3 of the Defense Production Act allows a US president to stimulate the domestic industrial base with the aim of expanding production and supply of critical materials and goods. Approved incentives include loans, loan guarantees, direct purchases and purchase commitments, as well as the authority to procure and install equipment in private industrial facilities.
In July, President Donald Trump made the official decision that domestic production, separation and manufacture of rare earths is "essential to the US national defense."
At the end of June, the US Air Force called on mining to produce plans for rare earth and processing development in the US. These memos also questioned the manufacturers as to their requirements for this group of 17 essential elements.
Ucore was one of the companies that responded to this request under Defense Production Act Title 3.
The company said it proposed the development of a mine and rare earth processing and separation facility on its Bokan Mountain project in southeastern Alaska.
Located on the Prince of Wales Island, about 35 miles northwest of Ketchikan, the Dotson Ridge deposit on the Bokan Mountain hosts 79 million tons of indicated resource with an average of 0,6 percent (63,54 million pounds) of total rare earth oxides.
Although not particularly high quality, about 40 percent of the rare earths on Dotson Ridge are classified as heavy rare earths, a subset of the rare earth series, which tends to be less common and more valuable.
Ucore has completed a preliminary economic review by 2012 describing an underground mine at Bokan Mountain, which is expected to produce 2.500 tonnes of Rare Earth Oxides per year for the first five years of full production.
"The Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earth project promises to provide the mineral resources the Department of Defense needs and needs most urgently," said Jim McKenzie, president and CEO of Ucore Rare Metals. “These include heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, metals that are urgently needed by the US DOD and that Ucore has to a higher degree than any other NI 43-101-compliant resource on US soil. We would like to thank Senators Murkowski and Sullivan for their active interest in the Bokan Project and look forward to working with them and US DOD decision-makers to make it a reality. "
As part of its plans to develop a mine at Bokan Mountain, Ucore has pushed ahead with plans to build a rare earth element processing plant in Ketchikan, which involves the use of molecular recognition technology, a highly selective method of isolating an element or group of elements from the solution ,
With a solution coming from Ucore's Bokan Mountain project in southeastern Alaska, IBC Advanced Technologies Inc. and Ucore have demonstrated that this technology can efficiently extract single high purity rare earth elements. This is considered a significant advance in the separation of electrical and electronic equipment, considering how closely these elements are interconnected and the environmental concerns over the traditional methods of separation.
However, after demonstrating that this technology works on a pilot scale and is ready to be upgraded to a commercial facility, the two companies have entered into conflicting sides over a dispute over Ucore's bid for IBC. The trial is still ongoing.
Ucore rare earth Inc.
This pilot plant, known as SuperLig One, demonstrated that molecular recognition technology can be used to separate closely connected rare earths into individual high-purity elements.
Ucore has purchased land outside of Ketchikan to build its planned REE separation plant and hopes to continue planning and approving the plant as soon as the lawsuit is resolved.
"We continue to believe that Alaska, and Bokan Mountain in particular, is an integral part of any solution to alleviate America's escalating foreign dependence on rare earths," said Ucore Rare Metals Chairman Pat Ryan. “Ucore is actively working with the State of Alaska, the Alaskan Delegation of Congress, and the Department of Defense to unlock the value of the Bokan Project for the emerging North American REE supply chain. This includes promoting ready-to-shovel initiatives related to the final planning and approval of the mine, as well as further progress on the first physical component of the Bokan project - the single rare earth processing and separation facility. "
Mining News / Institute of rare earth metals / Images: Ucore rare earth
