Neo Magnequench, a division of Canada's Neo Performance Materials, has started construction of its rare earth permanent magnet plant in Narva, Estonia, marking a key step forward in building out a regional supply chain that lessens reliance on Asia.
The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion in 2025, establishing capacity to produce about 2,000 t/yr of sintered rare earth permanent magnets. Neo is considering then expanding capacity to 5,000 t/yr based on strong demand outlooks. It also plans to integrate recycling into the operation, to maximise the circular economics of the facility.
The plant — an early beneficiary of the EU's Just Transition fund — is being built with "the specifications of our German, French and other European OEM and tier 1 customers in mind, in order to make magnets suitable for traction motors for electric vehicles", incoming chief executive Rahim Suleman said today.
Neo has been pursuing a strategy of vertical integration "from mine to magnet", and the long-awaited plant in Narva represents a key piece of this complex puzzle. Neo already has a 3,000 t/yr light rare earth separation plant at Silmet, just slightly to the west of Narva, the only non-captive industrial-scale separation facility outside Asia, Suleman noted.
"The rare earth magnets that will be produced [at Narva] are indispensable to growth and innovation in sectors such as electric mobility, wind energy and microelectronics," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said today.
"They promise lighter batteries, less consumption of critical minerals and higher energy efficiency. To guarantee supply, we are co-developing this facility with a rare earth mine in Greenland," she said, referencing Neo's plans to develop the Sarfartoq carbonatite complex in southwest Greenland as a future source of feedstock for the Silmet separation plant.
Neo has also been securing feedstock from Colorado-based uranium producer Energy Fuels, which is selling mixed rare earth carbonate cracked from US monazite to Neo for separation into oxides at Silmet. The deal, first struck in 2021, was groundbreaking in establishing the beginnings of the first US-Europe rare earth supply chain in decades.
