Ionic Mineral Technologies has discovered a major high-grade deposit of rare earth minerals and critical technology metals at its fully-permitted Silicon Ridge project in Utah.
The trove could prove to be a domestic source for elements used in the manufacture of EVs and many other high-tech products—elements that currently come mostly from China.
Independent assays by ALS Chemex confirm the deposit as a halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption clay (IAC)—the same geological formation that supplies approximately 35-40% of China’s rare earth production and over 70% of the world’s heavy rare earth elements.
Ionic MT describes the site as an IAC-Plus profile: it has rare earth concentrations comparable to China’s deposits, as well as hydrothermal, magmatically enriched grades of critical technology metals including gallium, germanium, rubidium, cesium, scandium, lithium, vanadium, tungsten, niobium, and a full suite of light and heavy rare earths.
Initial results from 106 boreholes and 35 trenches across a 650-acre area show a total rare earth and critical metal grade suite of approximately 2,700 ppm within the halloysite clay fraction. This grade compares favorably to Chinese ion-adsorption clay deposits, which typically range from 500 to 2,000 ppm.
The project is located on state-leased lands with active mining permits and is supported by Ionic MT’s existing 74,000-square-foot permitted processing facility in Provo, enabling a rapid timeline to commercial production.
“This confirmation is a watershed moment for American resource independence. For the first time, we have a domestic, shovel-ready source for a full spectrum of critical minerals, all extractable with a faster, cleaner process than traditional hard rock mining and extraction,” said Andre Zeitoun, founder and CEO of Ionic MT. “With our mining permits and processing facility in place, we can now move rapidly to production.”
Source: Ionic Mineral Technologies
