Sintef and REE Minerals will collaborate on an EU project to establish a European value chain for extracting and processing rare earth elements. The project, SUstainable EuroPean Rare Earth Elements production value chain from PriMary Ores, abbreviated as SUPREEMO, brings together 11 European participants from industry and academia.
The Sintef research institute is the project coordinator, and REE Minerals will supply raw materials for processing. The EU is contributing €7 million to the project under the Horizon Europe framework program, the EU's primary program for research and development. The goal is to ensure the cost-effective and environmentally sustainable supply of rare earth elements to European industries and strategic sectors that currently rely heavily on imports from China. Rare earth elements comprise 17 different chemical elements with unique properties, some of which have valuable applications. Certain elements, such as neodymium and praseodymium, are crucial for creating powerful magnets used in electric motors and wind turbines.
