ERI–Cyclic Materials rare earths pact: circular supply insights for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Electronics recycler ERI and rare earths specialist Cyclic Materials are partnering to build “one of the largest rare earth recovery ecosystems in the US”, combining ERI’s eight US recycling centres and more than one million pounds per day of e‑waste throughput with Cyclic’s magnet-focused recovery and refining technologies. Feedstock will be routed mainly to Cyclic’s Arizona facility, which can process up to 25,000 tonnes of end‑of‑life components annually, and to a new McBee, South Carolina campus designed for 2,000 tonnes of magnet material per year, expandable to 6,000 tonnes. The collaboration targets domestic recovery of rare earths plus copper and aluminium, and includes joint bids on commercial and government RFPs for circular critical‑materials supply chains.
Technical Brief
- ERI currently processes over one million pounds of electronic waste per day through its network.
- Eight US-based ERI recycling centres will perform pre-processing to isolate magnet-bearing and critical-material components.
- Cyclic Materials’ flowsheet targets high-volume, magnet-containing products rather than mixed low-grade e-waste streams.
- In addition to rare earths, Cyclic’s process is configured to recover copper and aluminium co-products.
- Cyclic is investing more than US$82 million in the McBee, South Carolina rare earth recycling campus.
- McBee’s initial 2,000 t/y magnet-processing capacity is engineered for staged expansion to 6,000 t/y.
- Joint ERI–Cyclic bids will target both commercial and US government RFPs for critical-materials recycling.
- Partnership is explicitly framed as reducing exposure to foreign rare earth trade tensions and supply disruptions.
Our Take
In our database of 176 keyword‑matched pieces on rare earths and critical minerals, most North American items still centre on primary mining rather than urban‑mine streams, so the ERI–Cyclic Materials model positions the US and Canada as early movers on large‑scale e‑waste feedstock for magnet metals.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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