BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phoenix Tailings today announced completion of preliminary designs for its commercial-scale rare earth separation system, marking a major milestone in the company’s effort to break America’s dependence on Chinese-controlled critical materials and build the industrial capacity required for a secure domestic supply chain.
The milestone advances Freedom, Phoenix Tailings’ approximately $1.2 billion separation-and-metallization project, designed to give U.S. and allied manufacturers an independent source of the rare earth oxides and metals essential to advanced manufacturing and national defense.
“America’s future cannot depend on permission from Beijing,” said Nick Myers, co-founder and CEO of Phoenix Tailings. “Our current metallization operations in New Hampshire have already started giving America an edge. With this advancement by our team and partners we show that through innovative technology, the United States can fight back and control its own destiny.”
Rare earth separation converts rare earth feedstock (mined rare earth ores and recycled e-waste) into individual separated rare earth oxide products, which can then be further processed into the final metals through the process of metallization.
This engineering advancement enables Phoenix to expand its commercial capabilities beyond its existing metallization operations to include separation and cover the entire “Missing Midstream”—the critical processing steps between upstream feedstock and the finished materials manufacturers need.
“Our next step is to scale separation to initially process more than 18,000 tons of rare earth feedstocks annually and produce more than 4,400 tons of separated oxides to supply our commercial metal operations,” said Tomas Villalon, CTO and co-founder of Phoenix Tailings. “Backed by two years of pilot testing and validation from our engineering partners, the system is designed to handle feedstocks from both mines and recyclers, with a modular design that allows us to expand as feedstock supply grows and keep pace with market demand.”
The separation technology is planned to be deployed as a part of the Freedom Project supported by the conditional loan commitment from the Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital announced in June.
Together, these efforts support Phoenix Tailings’ ambition to establish an enduring American industrial base for rare earth production, supplying the materials that underpin economic strength and national security.
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