# ACLARA COMPLETES BASIC ENGINEERING FOR ITS U.S. HEAVY RARE EARTHS SEPARATION FACILITY IN LOUISIANA

Canonical Atlas analysis: https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258

Original source: https://orestocks.com/company/ARA.TO/press-releases/5381585412408283

Publisher: orestocks

Original announcement: 2026-10-13T11:00:00.000Z

Analysis by Minestarters Atlas

Atlas analysis published: 2026-10-13T11:38:50.923Z

Atlas analysis updated: 2026-10-13T11:38:50.923Z

- Company: Aclara Resources Inc.

- Ticker: ARA.TO

- Exchange: Unavailable

- Region: Louisiana, United States

- Primary commodity: Rare earth

- Secondary commodities: Dysprosium, Terbium, Yttrium, Gadolinium, Samarium, Neodymium-praseodymium

- Document categories: Metallurgy, Other

- Extracted: 2026-10-13 11:38:51 UTC

Narrative sentiment: 0.80 · Bullish

## Minestarters Atlas summary

Aclara Resources has completed basic engineering for its Project Dynamo heavy rare earths separation facility in Louisiana, designed by Hatch Ltd. The update includes improved metallurgical recovery estimates for several oxides, an expanded product slate, and a revised US$494 million capital estimate.

Reasoning: The announcement marks a major de-risking milestone through completed basic engineering, improved metallurgical estimates, and secured permitting, despite the higher capital requirement.

- Positive factor: Completion of basic engineering by Hatch Ltd.

- Positive factor: Significant increase in estimated metallurgical recoveries for Dy, Tb, and NdPr

- Positive factor: Expansion of product slate to include Y, Gd, and Sm

- Positive factor: Strong project economics with 27.9% IRR and US$773M NPV

- Positive factor: Secured principal environmental permitting milestone \(LDEQ air permit\)

- Positive factor: Strong financing interest from EXIM Bank

- Negative factor: Significant increase in Capex from US$277M to US$494M

- Negative factor: Project execution remains subject to financing and construction timelines

Facts used in scoring: 6

## Classification and evidence

**Mill Route**

Polarity: neutral

Definition: Processing via mill or concentrator \(CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation\).

Why it applies: The project involves a large-scale solvent extraction facility.

Evidence · text

> engineered around Aclara's own SPREC feed and a large-scale solvent extraction process

**QP/CP Signed**

Polarity: positive

Story-specific tag

Definition: Qualified Person \(QP\) or Competent Person \(CP\) named and signed off — a member of a recognized professional association \(e.g., AusIMM, SME, AIG, P.Geo\) with relevant experience.

Why it applies: Basic engineering was completed by Hatch Ltd., a major engineering firm.

Evidence · text

> The basic engineering work, completed by Hatch Ltd. \("Hatch"\)

**Single Domain Only**

Polarity: negative

Definition: Testing limited to one composite or domain — representativeness not established.

Why it applies: only one composite was tested

## Extracted facts

Stored fact records: 6. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.

## Metallurgical Results (6)

### Fact 1

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258#fact-metallurgical-facts-0)

Project Dynamo · dysprosium

#### Identity

- Project: Project Dynamo
- Commodity: dysprosium
- Region: usa
- Reported Region: Louisiana, United States
- Ticker: ARA.TO

#### Test Work

- Sample: Project Dynamo separation process

#### Recovery

- Recovery: 97.9 %
- Recovery Basis: actual\_test

#### Lab

- Laboratory: SGS Lakefield

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Significant improvement in estimated recovery for Dy.

- Positive factor: Recovery estimation increased from 95% to 97.9%

Evidence · text

> Dy: Metallurgical recovery estimation increased to ~97.9% \(from 95%\)

### Fact 2

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258#fact-metallurgical-facts-1)

Project Dynamo · terbium

#### Identity

- Project: Project Dynamo
- Commodity: terbium
- Region: usa
- Reported Region: Louisiana, United States
- Ticker: ARA.TO

#### Test Work

- Sample: Project Dynamo separation process

#### Recovery

- Recovery: 97.7 %
- Recovery Basis: actual\_test

#### Lab

- Laboratory: SGS Lakefield

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Significant improvement in estimated recovery for Tb.

- Positive factor: Recovery estimation increased from 95% to 97.7%

Evidence · text

> Tb: Metallurgical recovery estimation increased to ~97.7% \(from 95%\)

### Fact 3

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258#fact-metallurgical-facts-2)

Project Dynamo · yttrium

#### Identity

- Project: Project Dynamo
- Commodity: yttrium
- Region: usa
- Reported Region: Louisiana, United States
- Ticker: ARA.TO

#### Test Work

- Sample: Project Dynamo separation process

#### Recovery

- Recovery: 85.7 %
- Recovery Basis: actual\_test

#### Lab

- Laboratory: SGS Lakefield

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Establishes baseline recovery for the new Y circuit.

- Positive factor: New product line added to the facility design

Evidence · text

> Y: Metallurgical recovery estimation of ~85.7%

### Fact 4

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258#fact-metallurgical-facts-3)

Project Dynamo · gadolinium

#### Identity

- Project: Project Dynamo
- Commodity: gadolinium
- Region: usa
- Reported Region: Louisiana, United States
- Ticker: ARA.TO

#### Test Work

- Sample: Project Dynamo separation process

#### Recovery

- Recovery: 86.7 %
- Recovery Basis: actual\_test

#### Lab

- Laboratory: SGS Lakefield

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Establishes baseline recovery for the new Gd circuit.

- Positive factor: New product line added to the facility design

Evidence · text

> Gd: Metallurgical recovery estimation of ~86.7%

### Fact 5

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258#fact-metallurgical-facts-4)

Project Dynamo · samarium

#### Identity

- Project: Project Dynamo
- Commodity: samarium
- Region: usa
- Reported Region: Louisiana, United States
- Ticker: ARA.TO

#### Test Work

- Sample: Project Dynamo separation process

#### Recovery

- Recovery: 96.3 %
- Recovery Basis: actual\_test

#### Lab

- Laboratory: SGS Lakefield

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Establishes baseline recovery for the new Sm circuit.

- Positive factor: New product line added to the facility design

Evidence · text

> Sm: Metallurgical recovery estimation of ~96.3%

### Fact 6

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/aclara-completes-basic-engineering-for-its-u-s-heavy-rare-earths-separation-faci--a880e2a2-a28a-4e7a-9eb8-c74a8be2c258#fact-metallurgical-facts-5)

Project Dynamo · neodymium-praseodymium

#### Identity

- Project: Project Dynamo
- Commodity: neodymium-praseodymium
- Region: usa
- Reported Region: Louisiana, United States
- Ticker: ARA.TO

#### Test Work

- Sample: Project Dynamo separation process

#### Recovery

- Recovery: 98.9 %
- Recovery Basis: actual\_test

#### Lab

- Laboratory: SGS Lakefield

#### Review

- Needs Review: No
- Historical: No

#### Dates

- Event date: 2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Reasoning: Significant improvement in estimated recovery for NdPr.

- Positive factor: Recovery estimation increased from 95% to 98.9%

Evidence · text

> NdPr: Metallurgical recovery estimation increased to ~98.9% \(from 95%\)

## How Atlas produces this analysis

Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.