Resources development company Mkango Resources reports that rare-earth magnetic recycling company HyProMag, in which it owns a majority stake, is collaborating with EMR, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Magnomatics and the University of Birmingham in a £1.5-million project.

Titled the Re-RE Wind project, £1-million, or 67%, will be funded by Innovate UK's circular critical materials supply chains programme. The budget for HyProMag's portion of the project is about £350 000, of which 70% will be funded by the grant.

The grant is subject to the signature of a collaboration agreement between the parties.

"This project further cements Mkango's and HyProMag's early mover advantage in the rare-earth magnet recycling sector, highlighting its competitive position and strong network of leading industry and academic partners.

“We look forward to continuing to support HyProMag as it scales up Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) and rolls out the technology internationally," enthuses Mkango CE William Dawes.

"We are very excited about this innovative project and the opportunity to further develop the UK supply chain for rare-earth magnet recycling with the support of Innovate UK and an excellent consortium of project partners,” states HyProMag operations GM Nick Mann.

"Re-RE Wind will address the hurdles for recycling of permanent magnets from wind turbines, effectively unlocking a new domestic source of rare earths. It further underpins the scale-up of HyProMag's operations in the UK, while complementing other Innovate UK-supported projects focused on different scrap streams, such as electronic waste and electric vehicle motors, in which HyProMag is participating." 

In August, Mkango's 90%-owned subsidiary Maginito completed the acquisition of HyProMag, which is commercialising rare earth magnet recycling in the UK, Germany (through HyProMag GmbH), the US (in partnership with CoTec Holdings) and other jurisdictions.

HyProMag's HPMS technology is a homegrown, innovative technology developed at the University of Birmingham.

HPMS has major competitive advantages versus other rare magnet recycling technologies, which are largely focused on chemical processes but do not solve the challenges of liberating magnets from end-of-life scrap streams.