Recently, Northern Rare Earth issued an announcement stating that, to further enhance the quality and efficiency of its technological achievements transformation, improve the allocation efficiency of scientific and technological resources, and strengthen its innovation capabilities, the company plans to invest 73.3645 million yuan to implement the Wet Smelting and Inorganic Functional Materials Pilot Base Construction Project.
According to the announcement, the project will be located within the premises of the Northern Rare Earth Smelting Branch; it will cover a total area of approximately 10,000 square meters; the construction content includes building a new pilot base facility for rare earth wet smelting and inorganic functional materials, along with supporting utilities and auxiliary facilities. The project is scheduled to commence construction in June 2025 and is expected to be completed and accepted in May 2026.
The project will provide favorable foundational conditions for Northern Rare Earth’s scientific research projects in wet smelting and inorganic functional materials. It will enable the validation of new technologies and processes under conditions close to actual production, accelerating the transformation of scientific achievements and reducing industrialization risks. The projects to be stationed at the base will focus on clean smelting of mixed rare earth concentrates, balanced utilization of lanthanum and cerium, and meeting national demands for major new materials. This will lay the foundation for the diversification and refinement of the company’s lanthanum and cerium products, further promoting their refined development, addressing the issue of lanthanum and cerium product stockpiling, and providing technical support for the formation of high-value-added lanthanum and cerium application industries.
Common lanthanum products include lanthanum oxide, lanthanum carbonate, and lanthanum chloride. Among them, lanthanum oxide can be used to manufacture optical glass and ceramic capacitors, enhancing the refractive index and chemical stability of glass; lanthanum carbonate serves as a phosphor activator and is also used in the medical field, such as a phosphate binder for treating hyperphosphatemia; lanthanum chloride is commonly used to prepare other lanthanum compounds and can act as a catalyst in organic synthesis reactions, accelerating reaction rates and improving selectivity and conversion efficiency.
Common cerium products include cerium oxide, cerium chloride, and cerium sulfate. Among them, cerium oxide can be used for glass decolorization and clarification, improving the heat resistance and optical properties of glass, and performs excellently as a polishing material. It is also applied in automotive exhaust catalysis and fuel cell electrolytes; cerium chloride is used in the preparation of petroleum catalysts and automotive exhaust catalysts, serves as a raw material for producing metallic cerium, and can be used for metal corrosion inhibition; cerium sulfate is often employed as an analytical reagent for detecting nitrites and iodides and can also be used to manufacture radiation dosimeters. Cerium alloys, such as silver-cerium alloys, can be used to produce contacts for DC contactors and relays, enhancing resistance to fusion welding and arc suppression performance.
