Enervoxa Looks to Build Rare Earth Processing Plant in India
Canadian climate tech firm Enervoxa intends to engage in discussions with India’s Vedanta, Hindalco Industries, and state-owned NALCO as it aims to establish a processing facility in the nation for extracting rare earths from aluminium production waste.
According to Enervoxa Chief Executive Vandit Verma, a commercial-scale facility would require an investment of approximately $250 million to $350 million and could be funded through a mix of strategic equity and project financing, as reported by Reuters. He mentioned that the company is considering possible sites in eastern India for the project.
Extracting rare earth concentrates from bauxite residue, a byproduct of aluminum production referred to as red mud, represents a relatively recent commercial venture that has gained traction due to increasing geopolitical worries regarding China's control over rare earth processing.
Rare earth elements are crucial to technologies including mobile phones, electric vehicle engines, and defense systems like cruise missiles.
India possesses significant reserves of rare earth minerals but does not have industrial-scale facilities that can process these minerals to achieve high purity. The nation ranks as the globe's second-largest producer of aluminium and the third-largest consumer.
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Verma stated in an interview on Wednesday that Enervoxa has dedicated eight years to developing its proprietary method for extracting rare earths from red mud.
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Alongside aluminium producers, Enervoxa intends to target engineering firms, steel producers, and critical minerals processing companies to establish a comprehensive value chain for products retrievable from red mud, including iron oxide, coagulants, pigments, and materials containing titanium.
Verma stated that the company intends to request support from the Indian government.
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The Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre in India, in collaboration with various stakeholders under the government think tank NITI Aayog, is investigating metal extraction and rare earth element enrichment from red mud, the government announced last year.