Ucore said the planned US$3.5-million plant, to be called the Alaska Strategic Metals Complex, will use the RapidSX separation technology developed by its subsidiary, Innovation Metals Corp (IMC).
The plant will be a linked development with the company's Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earth element project, also located in Ketchikan, and will process rare-earth concentrates into commercial-purity REE oxides for permanent-magnet applications.
IMC's RapidSX separation technology is currently undergoing commercialization development including computer simulation modeling and application testing by IMC's technical team, said Ucore.
"The Alaska SMC facility is the gateway component to establishing environmentally sound, cost-efficient rare-earth element supply-chain development and commercialization in Southeast Alaska," said Ucore chief operating officer Mike Schrider.
Ucore and the IMC managers presented an overview of the project to the AIDEA board on January 13.
