Aclara Resources announced the official inauguration of its semi-industrial heavy rare earths pilot plant facility in Aparecida de Goiania, Goias, Brazil. The main products from this pilot plant are dysprosium and terbium, which, along with other heavy and light rare earths, will be contained in the carbonate produced by the facility.

The company expects to process approximately 200 tons of clays, resulting in an estimated production of 150 kilograms of heavy rare earth carbonates. The new pilot plant incorporates several process optimizations designed to enhance efficiency, lower operating costs, and improve the purity of the final product.

The ceremony was attended by key government authorities from the State of Goias, the Municipality of Nova Roma, and representatives from federal agencies and international embassies. Government officials expressed their full support for the project’s streamlined development, recognizing its strategic potential to position Goias as a global center for sustainable production of heavy rare earths, particularly dysprosium and terbium. They also emphasized the project’s ability to deliver long-term economic growth, social development, and environmental value for the local communities and the State of Goias.

The new pilot plant incorporates several optimizations to the process flowsheet, building on the company’s previous piloting efforts in Chile, where 25 tonnes of clays from the Carina Project were processed. Aclara’s optimized approach is focused on increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving the purity of the final product. Aclara aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Validating the newly optimized closed-circuit flowsheet at semi-industrial scale,

• Validating processing parameters and the process flowsheet design to support the upcoming Pre- Feasibility Study (Q3 2025) and Feasibility Study (Q1 2026), both led by Hatch Ltd.,

• Generating a high purity heavy rare earth carbonate for a future pilot plant for separation in the United States and in support of future off-take agreements,

• Demonstrating to relevant stakeholders the environmental sustainability of the process design,

• Generating processed clays to confirm that they are chemically stable when returned to the field,

• Confirming the amenability of the clays to support the revegetation of the reclaimed site.

The proposed process flowsheet has two patents in place that protect this innovation. The first has been granted in all the countries that were requested viz. Chile, Brazil, US, and China, while the second patent has recently been filed and is pending approval.