Hyperion Metals Limited (ASX: HYM) has reported that metallurgical testwork at its Titan Heavy Mineral Sands Project in Tennessee has uncovered a “high value” mix of heavy and light rare earths, with potential for strategic rare earth production.
The rare earth products, found within monazite and xenotime, are expected to be produced at the Titan Project, as a component of Hyperion’s portfolio of heavy mineral sand concentrate product.
The testwork includes the following key findings:
- REE accounts for 58.7% of the monazite / xenotime sample
- Nd+Pr account for 21.2% of rare earth oxides, with heavy rare earths Tb+Dy accounting for 2.4%
- Potential basket price for a combined REE oxide is approximately USD$38,000 / tonne at current spot prices
REE content compares favourably to competitors
Hyperion reports that its high proportion of Nd+Pr and Tb+Dy compares favourably to major competitors including MP Materials (NYSE: MP) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC), with the former’s bastnaesite ore containing 16.3% of Nd+Pr and “negligibile” amounts of heavy REE.
Heavy rare earths, which are a critical material for defence, EV and clean energy sectors, are less common and more valuable than light rare earths, with only minor existing production capacity outside of China.
“these results highlight the potential for Hyperion to play an important role in the U.S. rare earth supply chain for critical industries including the defense sector”
Management comments
Hyperion Metals CEO and Managing Director Anastasios (Taso) Arima said: “Current rare earth market prices mean that most of the value is driven by just four rare earths – neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. These test results show that Hyperion’s rare earth concentrate has an excellent ratio of these highly valuable rare earth elements.
Importantly, the USA does not have significant production of the highly valuable heavy rare earths terbium and dysprosium and these results highlight the potential for Hyperion to play an important role in the U.S. rare earth supply chain for critical industries including the defense sector.
We look forward to incorporating these results into a scoping study for the Titan Project and working with Energy Fuels to establish an all-American rare earth supply chain for critical U.S. industries”