Imagine a world where the stuff that makes your electric car go, your wind turbine spin, and your phone, well, phone, isn't all controlled by one country. That's the dream Brazil is now chasing with a truly massive rare earth project.
Brazilian company IMC Rare Earths just announced some eyebrow-raising lab results from its Itarantim project. We're talking up to 95.2% recovery rates for terbium, one of those crucial elements that makes high-temperature magnets actually work. They even managed to create a mixed rare earth carbonate, which, if you're keeping score, is a pretty big deal for kicking off a new, non-China-dependent supply chain for magnet materials. It's still in the lab, mind you, but the numbers are promising.
This isn't some tiny prospect either. The Itarantim project spans two Brazilian states and is sitting on an estimated 1.1 billion tons of mineral resources. Let that satisfying number sink in. Within that colossal clay deposit, you'll find the usual suspects like neodymium and praseodymium, but critically, also dysprosium and terbium – the VIPs of the rare earth world, known for being notoriously scarce and highly sought after.
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Start Your News DetoxWhy 95.2% Recovery Matters
It's not just about how much rare earth is in the ground; it's about how much you can actually get out without breaking the bank. These ionic adsorption clay deposits are special because the rare earth elements are only loosely attached to the clay. That means you can leach them out, which sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie but basically means using a liquid to pull them free.
The latest tests, conducted with the Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, showed that in the best scenario, terbium recovery averaged 81.1% and hit that peak of 95.2%. For context, a 105.8 million-ton section of Itarantim has about 8 parts per million of terbium. Getting almost all of that out? That's the kind of efficiency that makes accountants — and nations — very happy.
These elements aren't just for bragging rights. Terbium and dysprosium are the secret sauce in permanent magnets that power everything from electric vehicles and wind turbines to the robots and defense systems that increasingly shape our world.
China currently processes the vast majority of the world's rare earth elements, even though the raw materials are found in many countries. This project, alongside others in places like Australia, the U.S., and Canada, is part of a global scramble to diversify that supply chain. Brazil, already a major player in minerals, is stepping up.
IMC Rare Earths CEO Frank Scolaro put it mildly: "We are very encouraged by these results." Because apparently, the world needs more rare earth supplies from more places. While the project's sheer scale is impressive, more technical work is needed to fully prove its commercial chops. But for now, Brazil just offered a glimmer of hope for a more balanced rare earth future.
