https://www.miningweekly.com
Building|Energy|Engineering|Manufacturing|Petrochemicals|Ports|Power|Renewable Energy|Renewable-Energy|Services|supply-chain|Sustainable|Systems|Turbines|Waste|Water|Manufacturing |Products|Turbines|Waste
Building|Energy|Engineering|Manufacturing|Petrochemicals|Ports|Power|Renewable Energy|Renewable-Energy|Services|supply-chain|Sustainable|Systems|Turbines|Waste|Water|Manufacturing |Products|Turbines|Waste
building|energy|engineering|manufacturing|petrochemicals|ports|power|renewable-energy|renewable-energy-company|services|supply chain|sustainable|systems|turbines-company|waste-company|water|manufacturing-industry-term|products|turbines-person|waste

Pensana selects location for UK rare earth processing facility

7th December 2020

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

     

Font size: - +

ASX- and LSE-listed magnet metal and rare earth miner Pensana Rare Earths reports that the Saltend Chemicals Park in the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership has been selected as the proposed site to build the UK’s first rare earths processing facility aimed at creating a sustainable magnet metal supply chain.

Working with UK engineering consultants Wood Group, the processing facility will become one of only two major producers outside China of rare earth oxides used in the manufacture of powerful permanent magnets, critical to the offshore wind and electric vehicle industries.

Lynas Corporation of Australia is currently the world’s largest non-Chinese producer of magnet metal rare earth oxides from its facility in Malaysia.

UK Minister for Investment Gerry Grimstone welcomes the proposal to establish a fully sustainable rare earth oxide magnet metal processing facility in the Humber region, saying the facility is an important step in the establishment of a permanent magnet supply chain in the UK.

He also says the supply chain could support a range of industries important to building back greener and to meet the UK’s net zero ambitions.

The Saltend Chemicals Park is a cluster of chemicals and renewable energy businesses including BP Petrochemicals, Ineos, Nippon Gohsei and Air Products, strategically located on the Humber estuary – a gateway to Europe and the UK’s busiest ports complex.

The 370 acre site, which is managed by the px Group, has attracted £500-million of investment over recent years. The px Group provides a range of services including power, water, reagents, waste disposal, centralised control and administration which will enable Pensana to focus on the operational aspects of the facility.

Pensana chairperson Paul Atherley says the Saltend Chemicals Park enables the company to also recruit a highly skilled local workforce at internationally competitive rates. “It is very clear that it is no longer acceptable for British and European companies to import the raw materials critical to the green economy from unsustainable sources.”

Pensana is planning to start development of its Longonjo mine, in Angola, in the first quarter of 2021 and bring it online as the first major rare earth mine in over a decade.

By importing mixed rare earth sulphates from Longonjo, and processing them into separated magnet metal oxides in the UK, for the first time, customers can buy these critical raw materials with confidence that they have been sourced and processed sustainably.

Wood Group and Pensana are working closely with the px Group to finalise the scoping study on the proposed facility, which is expected to highlight the international competitiveness of location particularly in relation to power, labour and reagents costs.

Detailed discussions with local councils and experienced planning agents have confirmed that subject to a final investment decision and funding being available, the necessary planning permission for the proposed UK facility can potentially be obtained with sufficient time for it to be constructed contemporaneously with the Longonjo mine development.

Meanwhile, the company also notes the various initiatives surrounding the Northern Powerhouse and the broader commitment to attract investment in high value manufacturing in the UK which will support the green economy.

In this light, Pensana welcomes the approval by the government for complex alloy systems and metals producer Less Common Metals to carry out a feasibility study into a fully integrated supply chain for rare earth permanent magnet production in the UK.

As such, Less Common Metals is ready to provide whatever support is required in assisting a favourable outcome for this important study.

British utility SSE and Equinor have recently announced a £6-billion financing to fund the development of the Dogger Bank offshore wind power farm located 130 km off the Yorkshire coast.

According to Pensana, Dogger Bank will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm and has the capacity to generate enough renewable electricity to supply about 5% of the UK’s total electricity. It will be powered by an array of 260-m-high Haliades X 13 MW turbines, each requiring over 7 t of permanent magnets.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
SBS Tanks
SBS Tanks

SBS® Tanks is a leading provider of innovative water security solutions with offices in Southern Africa, East and West Africa, the USA and an...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.063 0.096s - 91pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now