Phoenix Tailings opens Exeter Facility to Boost Domestic Rare Earth Metal Production
Phoenix Tailings has launched a new manufacturing facility in Exeter, New Hampshire, focused on a critical, currently China-dominated step in the rare earth metal supply chain. The company, โwhich also operates facilities in Woburn and burlington, Massachusetts, aims to bolster domestic production of these essentialโข materials used in automobiles, medical devices, and increasingly, defense applications.
the Exeter plant, secured after approximately six months of searching, benefited from an existing connection: an investor worked for the property-management โฃcompany owning the building, facilitating a quick move-in.
“Its exciting to seeโ a new manufacturing business โขopen in Exeter, particularly one as unique as Phoenix Tailings,” stated Darren Winham, Exeter’s economic development director. “My officeโ and other โregional service providers are currently assisting with their workforce โrecruitmentโ and are seeing success on this front. I expect good things as they grow.”
Phoenix Tailings’ Massachusetts locations include a 5,000-square-foot research and development building in Woburn โคand โฃaโ 25,000-square-foot production facility in Burlington. The company’s work has garnered attention from national newsโฃ outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.
The Exeter facility willโ focus on metallization – the final stage in processing rare earth metals. According to Phoenix Tailings representative, Myers, the process takes raw materials extracted from the earth – a mixture of 17 different elements – โคand refines them into usable forms. “The final stage is called โคmetallization, and that’s what we do here at Phoenix,” he explained. “It’s one part of the supply chain for rare earth metals, but it’s a very, veryโค importent โone and one that’s fully dominated in China.”
Initially focused on the automotive and medical industries, Phoenix Tailings has recently โคseen growing demand from the defense sector.”When we first started Phoenix, we did not have that in mind,” Myers said. “But lately it has shifted to that mindset.” He emphasized the meaning of establishingโ this capability within the United States, stating, “This facility is โฃvery important because โthat one part of the value chain, metallization, realy is not done atโค all inโ the United States.”
The company has raised โขapproximately $86 million in investment, including funding from BMW and Yamaha.Phoenix โTailings holds 114โ patents and trade secrets related to its manufacturing process.
Looking ahead, Myers envisions expanding operations across the continental United States and diversifying into the production of other critical minerals. The company also plans to minimize waste by utilizing mineral extraction byproducts and processing โฃthem โขthroughout the supply chain – a process mirroring the company’s namesake, โฃthe phoenix, which rises renewed from ashes.these byproducts are known as “tailings.”
