Cyclic Materials has opened a $20 million commercial-scale facility in Mesa, Arizona, using its proprietary MagCycle™ technology to recover rare earth magnets from end-of-life automotive parts, electronics, robotics and other products.

Automated magnet recovery

The 144,000-square-foot facility is designed to process up to 25,000 tonnes of magnet-bearing material per year. It is the first commercial-scale deployment of Cyclic Materials’ MagCycle™ technology.

MagCycle™ uses automated mechanical separation to recover permanent magnets from end-of-life products. The process produces Mag-Xtract™, a concentrated rare earth magnet material, while also recovering copper, aluminium and steel for reintegration into supply chains.

From scrap to rare earths

More than 7,000 tonnes of feedstock has already been delivered to the Mesa facility, with commercial operations now underway. The first commercial shipments are expected later this month.

Mag-Xtract™ is subsequently processed through Cyclic Materials’ downstream recovery process to separate rare earth elements and produce materials for reuse in permanent magnet supply chains.

Expanding US capacity

Cyclic Materials is also accelerating the development of a second US facility in South Carolina. The company plans to expand its domestic recovery and refining capacity as demand for rare earth elements continues to grow across automotive, electronics, robotics, energy and other sectors.

The company says its US expansion is aimed at creating a domestic and circular supply chain for rare earths and other critical materials recovered from end-of-life products.