Phoenix Tailings plans to build a $375-million (C$527.2-million) commercial-scale rare earths processing facility in Rochester, western New York to process more than 18,000 tons of both mined and recycled rare earth feedstock annually.
The plant, called Freedom Separation, is to produce more than 4,400 tons per year of separated rare earth oxides at its full capacity. Production is expected to ramp up in 2027 before reaching full capacity in 2028. Phoenix operates rare earth metallization facilities in Exeter, N.H., and Burlington, Mass., with production capabilities covering neodymium-praseodymium and heavy rare earth metals. The company has not disclosed the specific mix of rare earth oxides planned for Rochester.
“Technology can give America control over its critical supply chains, but it takes skilled, determined people to turn that promise into production,” Phoenix Tailings CEO and co-founder Nick Myers said in a release on Tuesday. “Rochester has those people. They know how to build, how to innovate, and how to run world-class industrial operations.”
Phoenix joins a growing number of companies developing rare earth processing plants in the United States, including Aclara Resources (TSX: ARA), which plans to begin construction of a Louisiana plant early next year that would process rare earths mined at its projects in Brazil and Chile. Washington seeks to overcome one of the industry’s biggest obstacles: a shortage of domestic facilities capable of separating and refining rare earths needed for magnets, electric vehicles and defence equipment.
Federal backing
The Rochester facility forms part of Phoenix Tailings’ $1.2-billion Freedom project, a separation and metallization platform designed to close the gap in U.S. midstream rare earth processing capacity.
The broader initiative is slated to generate more than 500 jobs across New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The Freedom Project has secured a $500-million conditional loan commitment from the Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Leveraging local infrastructure
Phoenix selected Eastman Business Park in Rochester for the 46,500-sq.-metre facility, citing its existing industrial infrastructure and local expertise in engineering, manufacturing, chemical processing and operations.
The project is expected to support more than 200 direct jobs in New York when fully operational, with at least 90 when it launches.
New York governor Kathy Hochul said the state will provide $3 million in performance-based tax credits for the project, Reuters reported.
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