ReElement Technologies Corporation is a provider of rare earth minerals refining solutions. Picture: Supplied
South African asset manager, Novare has invested into a R1.8 billion African refining facility for rare earth and battery elements.
The refining facility is being developed together with ReElement Technologies Corporation, a subsidiary of NASDAC-listed American Resources Corporation.
The development of the refinery facility in Africa comes at a time rare earth minerals miners such as Rainbow Rare Earths, which is developing the Phalaborwa mine in South Africa, are upbeat about demand for the commodity given the upsurge in green energy transition, robotics and air mobility.
ReElement Technologies Corporation is a provider of rare earth minerals refining solutions. Development of the new facility by ReElement Technologies Corporation and Novare is expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
Ola Leepile, CEO of Novare Group, said the collaboration between the two companies to develop the facility will help secure “reliable and quality critical” supplies of rare earth minerals and critical battery elements.
“It aligns seamlessly with our vision of being an impactful investor by establishing Sub-Saharan Africa’s first battery and critical minerals manufacturing facility. Through this partnership, we are confident that value addition and resource beneficiation can be achieved locally,” said Leepile.
The development of the facility was also a pivotal step toward establishing Africa’s first critical and rare earth element refining facility, focused on producing high-purity elements essential for advanced technologies for both the commercial and defence sectors.
The facility will use ReElement’s technology to produce high-purity lithium carbonate, rare earth oxides, and other critical minerals. It will use locally sourced feed stock and skills to support the growing demand in the battery and defence industries within Africa and North America.
“Together with Novare, we are bringing innovative refining technology to the region, enabling nations to enhance and capture the value of their natural resources and catalyse industrial economic development on the continent,” said Ben Kincaid, CEO of ReElement Technologies Africa.
“Novare will lead the way forward, modelling how African nations can and must serve as primary stakeholders in the global supply chain for critical minerals.”
The company will utilise its advanced chromatographic separation and purification platform technology along with project management expertise for the project, while Novare will provide the necessary capital investment as well as operational management.
Rainbow Rare Earth Minerals said in December that it had completed an updated economic analysis of Phalaborwa. The study had confirmed that the Phalaborwa project “remains resilient to the rare earth element (REE) price cycle, with an average production cost of $40.83 per kilogram magnet of rare earth oxides”.
Two saleable commodities - including rare earth carbonate - have been proven to be commercially viable from the phosphogypsum derived from phosphate ore found at Phalaborwa.
BUSINESS REPORT