Aclara Resources has finished basic engineering on Project Dynamo, its planned heavy rare earths separation plant at the Port of Vinton, Louisiana. The construction capital estimate is $494 million, with site prep targeted for Q1 2027, subject to financing.
Hatch Ltd. completed the work. The plant will turn mixed rare earth carbonate from Aclara’s ionic clay projects in Chile and Brazil into high-purity oxides, including heavy rare earths the company says are currently subject to Chinese export controls.
Bigger Bill, Bigger Plant: The estimate is up from $277 million at the conceptual stage. Per Aclara, the increase mainly reflects:
More capacity for feed from Chile’s Penco Module
New separation circuits for yttrium, gadolinium and samarium
A more detailed level of engineering
The new circuits raise the mixer-settler count from 340 to 478. On paper, separated oxide output climbs about 157%, while the capex estimate rose roughly 78%.
Operating costs fell about 32%, from $38/kg to $26/kg of oxide, averaged over the project’s life and excluding feedstock.
Using Argus Media pricing, Aclara estimates an after-tax NPV of $773 million at an 8% discount rate. It also projects a 27.9% IRR and payback in 2.6 years.
Shopping Close to Home: All major equipment packages have supplier quotes. Aclara expects to procure about 86% of equipment packages and all electrical packages in the U.S.
Permit In, Funding Pending: The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality approved the project’s air permit in September. Aclara calls it the principal environmental permitting milestone for construction, though the expanded scope may require permit modifications.
On Sept. 4, EXIM issued a nonbinding Letter of Interest signaling it would consider up to $750 million. That covers Aclara’s planned separation, metals and alloys platform in Louisiana, and the formal application is still in progress.
Construction is targeted to wrap in the second half of 2028, assuming the financing lands.
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