Ucore Advances RapidSX to Commercial Rare-Earth Production

Ucore Rare Metals is moving RapidSX, its patent-pending rare-earth separation process, from demonstration to commercial deployment, aiming to strengthen North American supply chains.

The Kingston, Ontario demo plant has run for thousands of hours and processed more than four tonnes of mixed rare earth feed, giving the company confidence in scale-up. RapidSX is presented as an environmentally friendlier, adaptable platform that accelerates key chemical reactions roughly threefold, improves purity and lowers operating costs.

Ucore plans a staged commissioning of its Strategic Metals Complex in Louisiana, targeting 2,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) in Q4 2025, rising to about 5,000 tpa in 2026 and a potential 7,500 tpa in 2027. At current prices the company estimates roughly $500 million in near-term top-line opportunity.

The business case rests on reducing dependence on China for rare earth oxides and downstream magnet supply. Technical partners include Kingston Processing Metallurgy (KPM) and a 52-stage RapidSX commercial demonstration plant is under development.

Recent corporate milestones cited by the company include strategic alliances with Vacuumschmelze and eVAC Magnetics, conditional Canadian funding approval up to $36.3 million, and a heads-of-agreement to secure Yangibana feedstock.