South Melbourne-based ABx Group and Canada’s Ucore Rare Metals have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on a binding offtake agreement for the supply of mixed rare earth carbonates (MREC) from ABx’s rare earth project in Tasmania to Ucore’s facilities in the USA. This partnership also explores investment opportunities for Ucore in ABx’s rare earth project.
The MOU, signed on September 3, 2024, aims to strengthen ties between Australia and the USA in the field of critical minerals and clean energy projects. ABx’s ionic adsorption clay rare earth element resource in Tasmania is noted for having the highest grades of key heavy rare earths, dysprosium and terbium, among Australian clay-hosted rare earth deposits. Metallurgical tests from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) have confirmed the high ionic proportion of this resource.
Ucore, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is advancing its patent-pending RapidSX™ rare earth separation technology at demonstration scale in Kingston, Ontario, and is developing the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex (SMC) in Alexandria, Louisiana. Ucore’s focus includes heavy and light rare earth element separation, with support from the US Department of Defense and the Canadian Government. 
