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Aclara Inaugurates Rare Earth Separation Pilot Plant in Virginia Tech to Advance U.S. Supply of Heavy Rare Earths
Pilot plant will validate Aclara's proprietary rare earth separation technology, supporting produ...
About this update from Aclara Resources, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Aclara Inaugurates Rare Earth Separation Pilot Plant in Virginia Tech to Advance U.S. Supply of Heavy Rare EarthsPilot plant will validate Aclara's proprietary rare earth separation technology, supporting production of separated rare earth oxides in the United States and accelerating the development of Aclara's industrial facility in Louisiana TORONTO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / March 19, 2026 / Aclara Resources Inc. (\"Aclara\" or the \"Company\") (TSX:ARA) is pleased to announce the inauguration of its rare earth separation pilot plant located at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The facility represents a major milestone in Aclara's strategy to establish a vertically integrated rare earth supply chain in the Western Hemisphere and support the development of its planned industrial-scale separation facility in Louisiana.The pilot plant has been designed to validate and optimize Aclara's proprietary rare earth separation technology using high-purity mixed rare earth carbonates, with high concentration of heavy rare earths, that will be produced from the Company's ionic clay deposits in Brazil and Chile. The facility will also generate operational data to support the engineering and ramp-up of Aclara's future industrial-scale plant in the U.S.The inauguration ceremony brought together senior leadership from Virginia Tech, Argonne National Laboratory, L3 Process Development, Aclara, and representatives from the U.S. government including the Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), highlighting the strategic importance of establishing domestic capabilities to process heavy and light rare earths currently restricted by China. Last year, Aclara secured $5 million in project development financing from DFC to support the feasibility study for its rare earth project in Brazil.Please watch a video of the inauguration ceremony at https://youtu.be/JeWP85PMnIA.Figure 1: Aclara's Separation Pilot Plant at Virginia Tech, U.S. Executive remarksEduardo Hochschild, Chairman of Aclara, commented:\"Demonstrating that Aclara possesses the technology to separate rare earths-including Chinese-restricted heavy rare earths-in the United States represents a major milestone. This achievement is especially significant because Aclara has the heavy rare earth ionic clay deposits needed to supply the proces...