Filtration issue — RER’s Upton demonstration plant identifies filtration inefficiency
After identifying a filtration problem during startup, Rare Element Resources announced on June 9 in a press release that it expects full end-to-end operations at its rare earth demonstration plant in Upton to begin in late summer.
The facility is designed to produce neodymium-praseodymium oxide, a material used in permanent magnets for defense and high-tech manufacturing. The demonstration plant is expected to operate for up to one year while collecting data needed to evaluate a larger commercial operation.
After startup began in late March, workers completed testing of systems that provide steam, compressed air, cooling water and heated water throughout the facility, according to Kelli Kast, RER’s chief administrative officer. The company then introduced stockpiled ore feed material from the Bear Lodge Project into the primary processing system for the first time.
That is when the company discovered a problem with front-end filtration equipment.
“These specific filtration inefficiencies could only be identified once actual production material was introduced into a continuous, scaled mechanical system under real operational conditions,” Kast told the News Letter Journal. “This process has given our engineering team invaluable data on how the physical ore interacts with the filter media, allowing them to precisely specify and source the optimal upgraded equipment.”
According to Kast, the filtration equipment prepares raw material before it moves to the plant’s separation circuits. She said the issue involves that preparation stage rather than the company’s proprietary rare earth separation technology.
“This modification does not affect our confidence in the core technology at all,” she said. “Our proprietary rare earth separation technology is completely independent of this front-end filtration step.”
RER is replacing and improving the filtration equipment while crews continue other testing and preparation work at the site. Kast said utility systems are operating, ore has moved through the front end of the process, and the downstream separation circuits are mechanically ready.
“The primary lesson of moving from pilot-scale to a continuous Demonstration Plant is that large-scale mechanical systems often require precise calibration when handling real-world materials,” Kast said.
Ken Mushinski, president and CEO of RER, said in the release that demonstration plants are intended to identify and solve mechanical and operational problems before a company invests in a commercial-scale facility.
“By fine-tuning our primary processing circuit and resolving these filtration inefficiencies now, we are effectively de-risking our commercial trajectory,” he said.
Kast said Upton remains “a primary, logical candidate” for future commercial processing because of its location, proximity to the Bear Lodge resource and existing infrastructure. According to Kast, RER values the location’s short distance from railroads and its ability to access power, roads and other industrial infrastructure resources.
Kast told the NLJ in July 2025 that housing availability and access to specialized health care in the Upton area are concerns for the company regarding workforce recruitment. She said on June 15 that that hasn’t changed.
“These will continue to be areas that require special focus as RER builds out a commercial facility,” Kast said.
The demonstration plant employs more than 25 people through a partnership with Sheridan-based contractor Wood PLC, according to the company. Kast said workers either live nearby or commute or stay in Upton and surrounding communities during the work week. She said the project also generates spending on lodging, housing, dining, fuel and purchases from local hardware and equipment suppliers in Weston County.
“The purpose of running the Demonstration Plant is to gather the exact operational, engineering, and economic data required to support that future commercial design,” she said. “That data, alongside long-term infrastructure economics and regional workforce availability, will ultimately guide our final commercial scale-up decisions.”
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