London-listed Pensana has advised that geotech drilling and trenching work has started at the Saltend rare earth oxide separation facility, in the UK.
The trenching activity for the foundation of the processing hub is being done ahead of the main construction, which will start later in the year.
The drilling marks the start of building the world’s first sustainable rare earth separation facility.
It is poised to produce 12 500 t/y of rare earth oxides, including 4 500 t of neodymium and praseodymium, which represents about 5% of the 2025 projected world demand.