Pensana Rare Earths looks into UK processing facility

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)