Name of the Project
Saltend Chemicals Park rare earth oxide (REO) separation facility.

Location
Saltend Chemicals Park, in Humber, Yorkshire, in England, in the UK.

Project Owner/s
Rare earths developer Pensana (formerly Pensana Rare Earths).

Project Description
The Saltend Chemicals Park is a cluster of world-class chemicals and renewable-energy businesses, including bp Chemicals, Ineos, Nippon Gohsei and Air Products.

The Saltend refinery will be the first major rare earths separation facility to be built in more than a decade. Pensana completed a front-end engineering design (FEED) and value engineering study for the rare earth separation hub at the Saltend Chemicals Park in May 2022.

The FEED and value engineering study envision production of 12 500 t/y of total REO, including about 5 000 t/y of neodymium and praseodymium oxides. The project will primarily treat material sourced from the Longonjo mine, in Angola, which will comprise an openpit mine and a flotation concentration plant, to produce mixed rare earth sulphate (MRES).

The Longonjo operation will treat 1.5-million tonnes of ore a year, producing about 40 000 t/y of MRES for export to the Saltend refinery.

The rare earth processing facility will be the world’s first being powered by offshore wind.

Potential Job Creation
The project will create more than 450 jobs during construction and more than 125 direct jobs once in production.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated after-tax estimated net present value of $3.6-billion and an internal rate of return of 77%, with a payback of 1.3 years.

Capital Expenditure
Total preproduction capital expenditure amounts to $494-million. The Saltend refinery capital cost is estimated at $195-million, while the Longonjo mine and processing infrastructure will total just under $300-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Full production is targeted for 2024.

Latest Developments
Pensana has broken ground at its Saltend rare earth processing hub.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Wood, SRK Consulting, Snowden Mining Industry Consultants and Paradigm Project Management (FEED and value engineering study); pxGroup (construction); PPM (owners representative) Wood and Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (capital expenditure estimate, the operating cost budget and the project schedule).

Contact Details for Project Information
Pensana, email contact@pensana.co.uk.