SUstainable EuroPean Rare Earth Elements production value chain from priMary Ores

SUPREEMO的目标是建立第一个商业化前的稀土元素（REEs）生产价值链（TRL 7），使用欧洲（EU）的初级资源作为原料，以负责任的方式开发可持续的，具有成本竞争力的加工，精炼和稀土（RE）永磁（PM）生产技术，遵守当地和国际安全法规。这将有助于确保欧盟工业和战略部门的稀土材料供应，这些部门100%依赖中国进口。稀土元素的最大终端用户是永磁体行业，其中含有钕，镨和镝作为生产高能效电机的关键元素，这对电动汽车和可再生能源技术至关重要。SUPREEMO将开采两个主要欧盟矿区的主要资源：Kvanefjeld稀土-格陵兰存款（大型稀土项目），矿石储量> 1.43亿吨; Fen存款挪威（欧盟最大的碳酸盐岩存款），总稀土氧化物品位> 2亿吨，品位1.2- 1.5%。它将利用以前项目中展示的技术，开发创新的，环境友好的，社会和经济可持续的稀土加工技术。在第一阶段，合作伙伴将在LCA和LCCA的指导下，优化独立技术，以阐明第二阶段最佳工艺参数的最终集成工艺流程。这将在第3阶段的试点活动中得到验证。最后，将在TRL 7上通过加工约10吨矿石，以与中国生产的商业价值相似的成本生产50-100公斤稀土氧化物，并生产用于制造50公斤PM的稀土合金。结果将传达和传播给主要利益相关者，并将制定具体的第一个商业计划，以吸引更多的投资者，并刺激有竞争力，有弹性和可持续的可再生能源生产价值链，为在欧盟市场的全面部署做好准备。

SUPREEMO aims to establish the first pre-commercial Rare Earth Elements (REEs) production value chain (TRL7) using European (EU) primary resources as feedstock, developing sustainable, cost-competitive processing, refining and Rare Earth (RE) Permanent Magnet (PM) production technologies in a responsible way complying with local and international safety regulations. This will contribute in securing REE materials supply for the EU industry and strategic sectors which depends 100 % on Chinese imports. The largest end-user of REEs is the PMs industry, that contain neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium as key elements to produce high energy-efficient motors, which are vital for electric mobility and renewable energy technologies. SUPREEMO will exploit the primary resourcesfrom two major EU sites: Kvanefjeld REE-deposit Greenland (large scale RE project) with ore reserves of >143 Mtonne and Fen deposit Norway (largest carbonatite deposit in EU) with >200 Mtonne grading 1.2-1.5 % Total Rare Earth Oxides. It will capitalise on technologies demonstrated in previous projects and develop an innovative, environmentally friendly, socially and economically sustainable REEs processing technologies. During phase 1, the partners will optimise the stand alone technologies to elucidate the final integrated process flowsheet with the best processing parameters in phase 2, guided by LCA and LCCA. This will be validated at the piloting activities in phase 3. Finally, the production of 50-100 kg of REO at similar cost to commercial value from Chinese production will be demonstrated at TRL7 by processing ~ 10 tonnes of ores, and the production of Rare Earth Alloy for the manufacturing of 50 kg PMs. Results will be communicated and disseminated to key stakeholders and a concrete first business plan will be set to attract more investors and stimulate a competitive, resilient and sustainable REEs production value chain ready for full-scale deployment in the EU market.