Pure Resources Ltd. has signed a formal partnership agreement with UT Battelle, the facility management contractor operating the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The collaboration aims to develop an economical flowsheet for extracting heavy rare earth elements and yttrium (HREE+Y) from industrial garnet sourced from Pure’s Garnet Hills project.
The partnership marks an evolution for the Garnet Hills asset. By layering rare earth recovery over its existing military-specification (MIL-SPEC) abrasive program, Pure is positioning the project as a dual-pathway supplier for both industrial and high-tech defence markets.
Pure Resources Interim CEO Rocco Tassone said the agreement embeds the company within the US critical materials ecosystem.
“We are stacking rare earth recovery on top of our abrasive program, delivering a complete US downstream strategy from a single Australian hard rock source,” Tassone said.
“Our mine to market strategy continues to strengthen as we extend Pure’s participation further downstream, with the clear objective of maximising returns for shareholders.”
Heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium are essential for the permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and advanced defence systems, including the F-35 Lightning II and nuclear-powered submarines.
Currently, the US is heavily reliant on imports for these materials, making domestic recovery a top national security priority.
Under the agreement, ORNL, the largest multi-program science lab in the US, will conduct four key research tasks:
- Pinpointing garnet feedstock with the highest mineral concentrations.
- Testing the economics of liberating minerals into a solution.
- Applying purification protocols to the extracted materials.
- Providing an industrial design pathway for commercialisation and patenting.
The program will be led by ORNL specialist Dr N. Alex Zirakparvar and is scheduled to run until March 2027. Pure’s financial commitment is capped at US$100,000, a figure the company notes is consistent with its ordinary metallurgical spend.
This collaboration complements Pure’s ongoing work with Rice University into carbon nanotube fibres, further strengthening its mine-to-market strategy for the US defence and electronics industries.
