HyProMag USA, a 50:50 joint venture of CoTec Holdings and HyProMag Limited, part of Mkango Magnetic Materials, has released an independent pre-feasibility study (PFS) of three potential new US rare earth magnet plants.
The PFS, by PegasusTSI and BBA USA, evaluates plants in South Carolina, Nevada and a second Texas location, which would also house a central manufacturing and finishing hub. Including HyProMag USA's first plant in Northlake, Texas, the four plants would produce about 4,192 metric tons of neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets per year by 2034. That is four times Northlake's planned output of about 1,048 metric tons. Northlake is in detailed engineering, and Phase 1 commissioning is expected in mid-2028.
Each new plant is intended to produce unfinished sintered NdFeB blocks using Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS). The process recovers magnet-grade material from end-of-life EV motors and other scrap without chemical processing. The hub would process NdFeB alloy by vacuum induction melting and strip-casting, and would finish the blocks through grain boundary diffusion (GBD), machining, plating and coating. The PFS estimates that GBD would raise the share of high-grade magnets from about 10% to 20% of output.
The PFS evaluates two cases: recycled feedstock only, and recycled feedstock plus primary NdFeB alloy. 85 billion in the recycled-and-primary case. Capital costs are estimated at about $623 million and $656 million, respectively. 5 per kg.
Source link
