I did a some digging lads..... with some very interesting results.
I have been fascinated about the opportunities in Tennessee and Texas, since I heard them mentioned a while ago.
In particular Tennessee, for obvious reasons.
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Texas is driven by Tesla's Giga plant and soon to be completed lithium refinery.
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MP materials is in Fort Worth, but I don't envisage us going into partnership with them.
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And of course Lynas is struggling to get their refinery up and running, more money and more time seems to be the continuing thematic there.
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Now unless we can manoeuvre our way into Tesla's heart, which is not impossible mind you, these players are all big, well established, and I can't see us partnering with them...particularly Lynas and MP. They will ost probably be the legacy competition.
So that's Texas, Now onto Tennessee....
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Tennessee has of course popped back onto the radar, driven by our announcement on the 18th, targeting expansion into the US with a rare earth refinery, which stated-
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The internal scoping study (Class 4 AACE Estimate, -20% / +30%) was prepared by a third party engineering group utilising a rare earth separation flowsheet defined, modelled and tested by Ionic Technologies, capable of producing 4,000 tonnes per annum of separated REOs with a nominal site located within Tennessee, USA, close to potential partners.'.
A quick search on Google's Gemini AI, comes up with 2 names.
IperionX and
United Rare EarthsFrom Gemini-
IperionX has the Titan project, and is a mineral sands deposit, concentrated with Titanium.
They also have some rare earths, but are principally interested in Titanium, followed by Zirconium.
I don't think IXR/Viridion and our IP, will be a good fit for them, so I am tipping they will not be our partner.
So this then leaves us with
United Rare Earths, and it certainly starts to get interesting.
From Gemini-
They are a junior start-up like us and currently building a 50,000ft facility in Caryville, Tennessee.
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What is interesting about them, is they are looking to RECYCLE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS FROM MAGNETS AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE.
Wow, I wonder where I have heard that before?
Remember, our study was done back in 2023....so I wonder if we had forged some sort of relationship from back then.
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The counter argument to this is that our recent announcement only talks about our US refinery using MREC from Makuutu and Colossus...so our refinery plans sound specifically that...just a refinery.
But what if they partner with IXR and also build a recycling facility on the same site?
Certainly not out of the realms of possibility, indeed, it will mirror what we are doing in Brazil- Recycling AND refining...
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Interesting company United RE- It looks partly privately owned, which makes it easy to partner with.
Gemini also states that it is part
military owned..
What..... MILITARY OWNED???
This is certainly heating up!
Additionally, they have an MOU with the Oak Ridge National labs!
DOE funded,, with more than 7,000 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff representing more than 70 nations form a dynamic culture of innovation. Wow... Heavy hitters worldwide.
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So URE, are Military owned and have an MOU with Oak Ridge labs....now this is getting beyond interesting, and I can just imagine the possibilities of partnering with someone like this.
We could slot right in with this junior and our proven tech, in what seems, a well-connected company.
Military, Oak Ridge Labs, and DOE connections.....
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And with the US at crisis point with rare earths, a neatly packaged solution like this might just fit the bill.
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URE have already started site works on the land and are progressing well.
Information on them is a little light.
We could partner up and slot in our existing engineering studies to align with their plans, and integrate into their site, which at this stage in their development seems quite feasible.
We get the Military connections, the site, Oakridge labs and our first JV venture into the US.
URE will of course share in the recycling plant/tech.
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The way things are accelerating at the moment, nothing would surprise me.
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Obviously, this is complete hypothetical conjecture, but it seems like such a great fit.
In my mind, it is just too hard to ignore...and might just come true...
Please, do a little digging of your own, and let me know what you think...
Am I just nuts, or does this make sense?
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Good luck everyone.
(20min delay)