California-based supply chain builder Special Project Delivery (SPD) has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with a US-based rare earths company called Winner Water Services. 

SPD plans to have Winner Water join the National Security Matters (NSM) platform that SPD is assembling with Nasdaq-listed advanced electronic components manufacturer Mobix Labs.

Winner Water, based in Sharon, Pennsylvania, recovers rare earth elements, scandium, and alumina from coal ash impoundments - a domestic stockpile that has already been mined.

Over ten years, Winner Water and its research partners have received funding from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense through six consecutive awards totaling $53-million.

In August, Winner Water broke ground on its rare earths extraction demonstration plant at the National Carbon Capture Center in Wilsonville, Alabama.

SPD is itself party to a definitive agreement with Mobix Labs to combine the two companies as part of Mobix Labs’ NSM initiative.

The Winner Water agreement is expected to close in connection with SPD’s combination with Mobix Labs, subject to required approvals and other customary conditions.

Coal ash is in abundance in the US and receives much attention around its disposition. 

As a company with vast experience in remediating water once considered contaminated into a useable product, the idea of extracting product from ash was highly intriguing for Winner Water.

Winner Water was awarded the opportunity to demonstrate a process for the extraction of rare earths from coal ash, which led to refinement of the process, building of a pilot plant as well as the demonstration of the company's Liquid-to-Liquid Extraction process for separation and further refinement.

NSM BACKGROUND

The NSM platform addresses core vulnerabilities in US defence by reducing heavy reliance on foreign supply chains for critical minerals.

As a connectivity and electronic components provider for the aerospace and defence industries, Mobix Labs launched the initiative to control and develop strategic domestic mineral rights. 

SPD is a key catalyst of the NSM platform, while Winner Water's rare earths, alumina and scandium recovery technology will be directly incorporated into the NSM.