USA Uncommon Earth Inc has chosen Fluor Corp together with WSP International Inc as its engineering, procurement and building administration (EPCM) companions to advance the definitive feasibility research (DFS) for the Spherical High uncommon earth mission in Texas, USA.
Fluor and WSP are globally recognised leaders in mining, processing and large-scale infrastructure supply, with expertise executing advanced, multi-year tasks totaling tens of billions of {dollars} throughout North America and internationally. Their choice, following a radical analysis of bids from a number of distributors, brings substantial technical, engineering and execution capabilities to Spherical High, supporting an accelerated and disciplined path towards business manufacturing, the corporate says.
USA Uncommon Earth says its Spherical High deposit hosts 15 of the 17 uncommon earth components, together with all heavy uncommon earth components, in addition to different high-tech metals corresponding to gallium, hafnium, zirconium, beryllium and lithium. Lengthy-term, it intends to make use of the ore processed from this layer in its magnet facility in Oklahoma, and provide different industries together with the US protection business, with important minerals.
To maneuver the Spherical High mission ahead extra shortly whereas sustaining required technical requirements, the corporate is following what it says is an Accelerated Mine Plan. As a part of this plan, it intends to finish the primary part of its DFS utilizing outcomes from its solvent extraction (SX) pilot work, which is already underway on the firm’s facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This primary part will cowl the identical scope sometimes addressed in a prefeasibility research.
On the identical time, the corporate plans to function its demonstration plant in Wheat Ridge, Colorado for not less than 2,000 steady hours, with operations at present anticipated to conclude in October 2026. Knowledge generated throughout this run will likely be used to finish the second part of the DFS.
In parallel, USA Uncommon Earth plans to hold out confirmatory and geotechnical drilling at Spherical High within the first half of 2026, together with a heap leach optimisation research, to help mine design and engineering. Collectively, these efforts are supposed to help progress towards business manufacturing of heavy uncommon earth oxides, at present focused for late 2028.
Alex Moyes, Vice President of Mining & Processing at USA Uncommon Earth, stated: “Fluor and WSP are key companions with the expertise and experience required to maneuver Spherical High towards business supply. Their groups know tips on how to ship advanced mining and processing tasks, and that issues as we work to convey a safe, home provide of heavy uncommon earth components, inclusive of yttrium, into manufacturing, together with important expertise metals corresponding to hafnium, zirconium and gallium. That is one other step towards strengthening the US uncommon earth worth chain at a time when reliability and resilience are more and more necessary.”
