Summary: Basic engineering has been completed for a proposed heavy rare-earth separation facility in Louisiana. The design covers six separated oxide products relevant to permanent magnets and other high-performance applications, but construction, financing and commercial production remain future steps.
Engineering moves from concept toward execution
Aclara Resources reported that Hatch completed basic engineering for Project Dynamo, a planned separation plant at the Port of Vinton, Louisiana. The design is intended to process a mixed rare-earth carbonate feed from the developer’s ionic-clay projects in Brazil and Chile.
The planned product slate includes dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, gadolinium, samarium and neodymium-praseodymium oxides. Dysprosium and terbium can support high-coercivity NdFeB magnets, NdPr is the principal rare-earth input for many NdFeB grades, and samarium is a key element in SmCo magnets.
Capacity and cost estimates have been refined
The company described the new estimate as an AACE Class 3 construction-cost estimate of approximately US$494 million. It also reported a life-of-project operating-cost estimate of about US$26 per kilogram of separated oxide, excluding the cost of mixed-carbonate feedstock.
At full upstream project capacity, the design basis targets average annual production of approximately 200 tonnes of dysprosium oxide, 35 tonnes of terbium oxide, 1,350 tonnes of yttrium oxide, 180 tonnes of gadolinium oxide, 190 tonnes of samarium oxide and 1,300 tonnes of NdPr oxide. These are engineering targets tied to future feed availability and successful project development, not current production figures.
Schedule still depends on financing and delivery
Site preparation is targeted for the first quarter of 2027, subject to financing and other customary conditions, with construction completion targeted for the second half of 2028. The next steps include detailed engineering, long-lead equipment procurement, financing work, additional demonstration-plant validation and customer qualification discussions.
For magnet manufacturers, the announcement is relevant because it defines a potential future source of both light and heavy rare-earth oxides. The commercial significance will depend on whether the project secures financing, completes construction, validates scale-up, receives any remaining approvals and supplies qualified product consistently. Completion of basic engineering improves definition; it does not mean the separation facility is operating.
Source: Aclara Resources announcement via PR Newswire, October 13, 2026.