By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Phoenix Tailings will build a commercial-scale rare earth processing facility worth $375 million in the city of Rochester, New York state's Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday.
The United States is pouring billions into new rare earth plants to loosen China’s grip on the minerals, which are used in an array of products from electric vehicles to fighter jets. Most of that capacity won’t come online until 2027 or later.
Phoenix Tailings' 500,000-square-foot
facility will be built in Rochester's Eastman Business Park with some operations slated to start next year and full production expected in 2028, Hochul said in a statement.
It is expected to process about 18,000 tons of rare earth material each year, the statement said, adding that New York state will provide $3 million in performance-based tax credits for the project.
The governor said the facility will help bolster "our national security by building a clean supply chain for rare earth elements in New York, reducing reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals".
The announcement comes months after the Pentagon conditionally committed $500 million in long-term debt financing to Phoenix Tailings to build a rare earth midstream processing plant in the US.
"America and its allies cannot build the next generation of advanced manufacturing on a rare earth supply chain they do not control," Phoenix Tailings Chief Executive Nick Myers said in a statement.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Jonathan Spicer )
