ASM hits commercial crit-min output in Virginia 

Atlantic Strategic Minerals (ASM) says it’s reached commercial production at the largest mineral separation plant in North America, part of a $200-million investment in a complex including construction and a recent refurbishment.  

ASM, majority owned by London-based private equity firm Appian Capital Advisory, is producing critical minerals ilmenite — a feedstock for titanium and pigment industries — and zircon used in consumer goods, advanced manufacturing and defence. The Virginia operations including a mine, concentrator plant and processing, are Appian’s twelfth mining project brought into production since 2016, ASM said Thursday 

The “project that not only strengthens the domestic supply of critical minerals but also plays a vital role in bolstering U.S. economic and national security,” ASM CEO Chris Wyatt said in a news release. “It is a case study of how to responsibly and successfully bring a strategically important project into production, while also ensuring lasting benefits to local communities.”   

Imports

Titanium and zirconium have been designated by the U.S. government as critical minerals with domestic industries now heavily relying on imports to meet demand. ASM’s operation offers capacity to process domestic and imported critical minerals – building more secure U.S. supply chains, it said.

The first shipments of ilmenite and zircon, as part of long-term offtake agreements, have been delivered to U.S industrial customers, the company said. 

In the next stage of development at its Virginia operations, ASM said it plans to produce monazite, a key mineral feedstock used in the production of rare earth oxides. Studies indicate that ASM’s monazite has significant concentrations of praseodymium and neodymium, key materials for magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence applications.   

With China currently processing approximately 90% of rare earths, the company said the project’s monazite production has the potential to significantly diversify and strengthen the U.S.’ critical supply chains.