By JIM BUTLER
The Army and Department of Defense have agreed to putting another $18.4 million toward Ucore’s proposed rare earth processing facility at England Air Park.
The initial proposed cost of construction in September 2023 was $65 million.
The purpose of the additional funding is to facilitate the Phase 2 (of three phases) construction of a production-ready commercial extraction machine and supporting infrastructure, according to the Canada-based firm. .
Specifically, this involves the pre-planned expansion of Ucore’s existing prototype project soon to conclude at a demonstration facility in Kingston, Ontario.
According to UCore, the primary objectives of the Phase II project are:
- Construct and demonstrate the full-scale technology modules;
- Conduct a systems engineering approach to facilitate a knowledge transfer of the innovative separation technology;
- Install production separation capacity at the SMC capable of processing hundreds of tons of heavy and/or light total rare earth oxide processing utilizing the same technology equipment platform.
Ucore secured an Industrial tax exemption in 2023 from the Police Jury for the project.
Under the program, 80 percent of property tax liability is under abatement for the first five years, with an option to renew for an additional five assuming capital investment marks are reached.
Only assets directly involved in the manufacturing process are eligible for the abatement.
In addition to the state’s incentives the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority agreed to provide
$360,000 to offset facility costs in the initial 24 months.
About 100 direct new jobs are projected as a result of the plant operation, with about 300 created in the state’s central development region.
Ucore announced in March 2023 its plan to locate North America’s first modern technology rare earth element separation and purification facility at the air park.
The Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex will establish a U.S.-based supply chain of rare earth oxides, many mined in Texas, required to manufacture electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators and a variety of consumer goods including smart phones and power tools, company officials said.
The elements aren’t all that rare and tend to blend together in the wild, making them difficult to separate for their various uses in modern technology.
They are called rare because the first black rock containing one of them had never been seen before being mined in Sweden in 1788. It was called earth because it could be dissolved in acid.
There are 17 metallic elements in the rare earth category.