Ucore Invests $75 Million to Establish Rare Earth Metals Manufacturing Facility in Alexandria
Ucore North America, a subsidiary of Ucore Rare Metals Inc., has recently announced its investment of $75 million to build North America’s first modern technology rare earth element separation and purification facility in Rapides Parish. The facility, called the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex, is set to create a U.S.-based supply chain of rare earth oxides that are required to manufacture electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, smart phones, and power tools.
The establishment of this facility represents an important step towards establishing the critical metals supply chain necessary for the changing manufacturing landscape across North America. By producing materials for industrial rare earth permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines, Ucore is contributing to the shift towards energy production and consumption diversification.
The Louisiana facility will create 100 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of more than $50,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 298 additional new indirect jobs, for a total of 398 new jobs in the Central Region.
The facility will provide the space and means necessary to implement Ucore’s proprietary critical metals separation technology, converting thousands of metric tons of high-purity earth feedstocks into usable materials.
The establishment of the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex is a major manufacturing project that illustrates how the shift towards cleaner energy is creating jobs and increasing investment across the state. The products manufactured at Ucore will reinforce Louisiana’s importance to the global supply chain, and the company’s decision to locate its Strategic Metals Complex in Alexandria is an important strategic and economic development victory for Louisiana and the region.
The investment is part of Ucore’s vision and plan to become a leading advanced technology company, providing best-in-class metal separation products and services to the nascent North American rare earth element supply chain. This plan includes the near-term development of a heavy and light rare-earth processing facility in Louisiana, with subsequent facilities in Canada, Alaska, and the longer-term development of Ucore’s heavy-rare-earth-element mineral-resource property at Bokan Mountain on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.
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