BMW, Yamaha Motor again US uncommon earths startup Phoenix Tailings

By Ernest Scheyder

(Reuters) – BMW (ETR:BMWG) and Yamaha Motor have invested in U.S.-based uncommon earths processing startup Phoenix Tailings, the newest transfer by producers to spice up manufacturing of the strategic metals outdoors of China.

Uncommon earths are a gaggle of 17 metals used to make magnets that flip energy into movement for electrical automobiles, cell telephones and different electronics.

The prevailing customary to refine these minerals, generally known as solvent extraction, is an costly and soiled course of that progressively grew to become unpopular in the USA after it was developed within the Fifties however one which Chinese language rivals have spent the previous 30 years mastering.

Beijing has taken steps in current months to curb exports, a transfer that has fueled a scramble throughout the West for substitute applied sciences. Phoenix says its course of can produce uncommon earths from mined ore or recycled gear with little to no emissions.

BMW and Yamaha’s enterprise capital funding divisions are amongst a number of traders – together with enterprise capital funds Envisioning Companions, MPower and Escape Velocity – in Phoenix’s $43 million Sequence B funding spherical, which closed on Dec. 20, Phoenix CEO Nick Myers advised Reuters in an interview.

Phoenix declined to reveal every investor’s funding.

The corporate will use the funding to construct a $13 million facility in Exeter, New Hampshire, that may produce 200 metric tons of uncommon earths yearly and will open by June 2025, Myers mentioned.

The remaining funding might be used for analysis, engineering and enterprise growth.

The Massachusetts-based firm, which has 33 workers, says it has signed provide contracts price greater than $100 million, though it declined to say with whom. If the Exeter facility is profitable, Phoenix plans to construct bigger processing amenities elsewhere within the U.S.

That might assist the corporate obtain its objective of going public inside three to 5 years, Myers mentioned.

MP Supplies and Lynas (F:LYI) Uncommon Earths are two of the most important non-Chinese language uncommon earths miners and processors, though each have struggled amid Chinese language competitors.

Myers mentioned he believes Phoenix can succeed as a result of it doesn’t function a mine. The corporate is making use of for U.S. authorities loans and grants.

Myers added that he believes Donald Trump, who will turn out to be U.S. president on Jan. 20, might be a “very sturdy profit for onshoring manufacturing” and important minerals firms.

Phoenix closed a $10 million Sequence A funding spherical in August 2021.