Aclara hires Pares&Alvarez for your new rare earth project

With the aim of continuing with the technical development of its new rare earth project, called “Penco Module”, the company Aclara confirmed the hiring of the renowned engineering company Pares&Alvarez (P&A), originally from Concepción and which has more than 28 years of experience in the development of industrial projects with consulting scope,  engineering, environment, procurement and construction management, both nationally and internationally.

The Penquista engineering office will prepare, mainly, the technical report according to the Canadian standard NI 43-101 on disclosure for mining projects, thus complying with the high requirements of accuracy and integrity of the scientific and technical information that companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (Canada), as is the case of Aclara, provide on their current or future operations.

It should be noted that about 80 professionals from the Biobio region, both from Aclara and P&A, will work in the preparation of this report.

In view of this award, Ramón Barúa, Executive Director of Aclara, said that the collaboration with P&A “demonstrates our commitment to prioritise local talent, contributing to regional development through work with suppliers in the area, in addition to the fact that Pares & Alvarez is a consolidated Chilean engineering company of great prestige in the design of profitable and fit-for-purpose mining and process facilities”.

In this regard, Víctor Contreras, General Manager of Pares&Alvarez, commented that “as a company we are very happy to be part of this project in the Bío Bío Region, in which we will carry out the feasibility engineering associated with the new processing plant under the BIM Methodology”.

The “Penco Module” project, currently under environmental evaluation, contemplates an investment of USD $130 million and is focused on the production of rare earth minerals, a group of 17 elements that are used in the manufacture of high-performance permanent magnets and that are key to the production of electric cars, wind turbines and other technologies for daily use.

To this end, the company developed a unique process in the world called “Circular Harvesting of Minerals”, which will allow the production of these elements with unprecedented attributes in this industry: without using explosives, crushing or grinding; operating 100% with recycled water from treated household water; recirculating up to 95% of this water and 99% of its main reagent (a fertilizer); without radioactivity and without liquid industrial waste; among others.

Aclara assures that the production of rare earths will make Chile a relevant geopolitical actor in the global fight against the climate crisis, providing critical minerals for the development of green technologies.