Microsoft invests in Ontario-based rare earths recycling company
Cyclic has developed a patent-pending technology called CC360 to address the challenge of recovering rare earths contained in end-of-life hard drives.
Pensana Rare Earths, which is developing the Longonjo rare earths project in Angola, has appointed Wood Group to study the potential for the company to set up a rare earth oxide production facility in Britain.
Rare earths are a group of minerals, including neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, used in magnets helping power a range of products from iPhones to wind turbines.
The projected production from Longonjo, combined with a processing facility in Britain, would be enough to supply the wind turbines at Dogger Bank – a wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire – for the next 20 years, Pensana said on Monday.
Each turbine requires over 7 tonnes of permanent magnets, Pensana said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week announced a 160 million pound ($208.29 million) investment as part of a drive to quadruple Britain’s offshore wind capacity to 40 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, in a bid to build a “green” recovery from the pandemic.
($1 = 0.7682 pounds)
(By Helen Reid; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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