Ionic Rare Earths bags $16 million UK grant for Belfast recycling plant

Australian miner Ionic Rare Earths said on Tuesday that its unit has been offered a 12-million-pound ($16.42 million) capital grant from the British government to support its magnet recycling facility in Belfast.

The grant will contribute to the capital investment for the facility, run by the company’s unit Ionic Technologies.

The UK, like many countries worldwide, is pushing for domestic development of critical minerals to reduce reliance on foreign supplies by 2035.

Subject to due diligence and conditions, the sum will be provided through the UK government’s DRIVE35 funding, which supports the industrialization of zero-emission vehicle technologies.

“The development of a commercial rare earth permanent magnet recycling plant in Belfast will support the UK’s automotive and advanced manufacturing industries,” said Ian Constance, CEO of Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, one of the funding providers of DRIVE35.

The recycling plant in Belfast is expected to produce 400 metric tons of high-purity separated magnet rare earths oxides per year, using the unit’s long-loop recycling technology.

Ionic Rare Earths is currently working to secure the remaining funding for its 85-million-pound project, with multiple parties expressing interest.

($1 = 0.7310 pounds)

(By Shruti Agarwal; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)