Sekolic Builds Rare Earth Recycling Plant in Kingston

According to a report on Mining.com, Canadian startup Cyclic Materials (CM) is investing $25 million to build a rare earth recycling plant and research center in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, with support from Amazon and Microsoft.

The company has developed proprietary technology capable of recycling rare earth elements from discarded products such as wind turbines and data center hard drives. In 2023, the company launched a commercial demonstration facility for recycling rare earth permanent magnets using this process. In 2024, the company opened a second plant in Kingston to produce mixed rare earth oxides (MREO).

Last year, the federal government provided CM with a $4.9 million grant to build a demonstration plant in Kingston. The project has now been completed.

The newly constructed Kingston Centre of Excellence, spanning 140,000 square feet, will become the company's first commercial-scale "hub" processing unit. It will commence operations in Q1 2026, with a designed annual production capacity of 500 mt of magnet raw materials, which will be converted into rMREO. These recycled products include critical materials such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, and dysprosium. These elements are key materials for manufacturing permanent magnets required in EVs, wind turbines, and consumer electronics.

"With this Centre of Excellence, we are advancing our core mission: securing the most critical elements of the energy transition through circular innovation," said CEO Ahmad Ghahreman. "Kingston is the birthplace of CM and is now the cornerstone of our commercial future."

CM is also expanding abroad, constructing a recycling plant in Mesa, Arizona, US, which is expected to commence production in early 2026.