Rare Element Resources Ltd. (RER) reported
the U.S. Department of Energy’s
(DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy has finalized its National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review
of RER’s planned rare earth processing
and separation demonstration plant to
be built in Upton, Wyo. This completes
the federal permitting activity prior to construction.
The DOE NEPA review was
consistent with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission’s NEPA review, with both
resulting in a finding of no significant impact.
The company is awaiting next-stage
budget approval from the DOE, which is
providing approximately 50% of the project
costs, to commence construction. The
demonstration plant will advance the company’s
proprietary recovery and separation
technology, and the operational and
economic data generated will be essential
to the design of a commercial-scale plant.
“The DOE’s completion of its NEPA
review was the final federal licensing approval
required, and we thank the DOE
for its completion of this important task,”
said Brent Berg, president and CEO of
RER. “We are now advancing offsite fabrication
and equipment assembly, while
the DOE concludes the construction and
operations budget approval, which was
expected by the end of November 2023.”
RER believes plant operations could begin
as early as summer 2024.
As featured in Womp 2023 Vol 12 - www.womp-int.com