Aclara Resources
Rare-earth elements mining company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aclara Resources is a rare-earth elements company with mining projects in Brazil and Chile and mineral processing projects in the United States.[2] It is a publicly owned company whose major stakes are held by Hochschild Mining (55.9%) and CAP (10.1%).[2][A] It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.[3]
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rare-earth elements |
| Genre | Mining |
| Founded | 2021 |
Area served | Brazil, Chile, United States |
Key people | Ramón Barúa (CEO)[1] |
| Parent | Hochschild Mining (55.9%) |
The mines in Brazil and Chile are planned to supply a rare-earth separator plant that is under construction as of March 2026 in Louisiana in the US.[2] In 2025 the company claimed that by 2028 it expected to supply more than 75% of the US demand of dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb).[5]
The company traces its origins to 2018 when Hochschild Mining purchased 6.2% of the Chilean company BioLantánidos[B] which was owned by the Minería Activa-administered FIP Lantanidos fund of LarrainVial.[8][9][10][11] In this initial investment Hochschild Mining obtained an option for further purchases.[8] In 2019 Hochschild Mining gained full ownership of BioLantánidos by buying the remaining 93.8% stakes.[9][12] Later, in 2021 Hochschild Mining rebraded the company to Aclara Resources and inscribed it in the Toronto Stock Exchange.[11]
Brazil
In Brazil Aclara Resources is focused on providing magnetic rare-earth oxides (MREOs) to a magnet production facility in South Carolina, US.[13] The Carina project in Nova Roma, Goiás[14] claimed in November 2025 to be the first HREE (Dy, Tb, Pr, Nr) mining project in the world to declare reserves hosted in ionic clays.[15]
Chile
In Chile BioLantánidos, the predecessor of Aclara Resources, begun in 2016 plans to commercially exploit rare-earth metals nex to Penco.[2][11] This project, known as Penco Module (Spanish: Módulo Penco), had as of March 2026 its environmental impact assessment under evaluation by the Environmental Assessment Service.[2] If approved the mine is planned to start production in 2028,[16] delivering an average of 811 tons of RRE-oxides annually.[2] In Chile the company has faced accusations of starting the 2026 Chilean wildfires to pave the way for the approval of the Penco Module.[16][17]
Hochschild Mining claimed in 2019 that no use of explosive will be needed for the extraction of REEs, whose mineralizations reportedly does not go deeper than 20 to 30 m below the ground.[8]
United States
In the United States the company is building a REE plant in the Port of Vinton which is part of "a wave of North American investment in rare earths separation, processing and magnet manufacturing".[5] Aclara Resources has co-developed technology with Virginia Tech.[5]
Notes
- BioLántanidos was a trade name of REE UNO SpA.[6] This company in turn emerged between 2012 and 2014 from a exploratory drilling campaign that was carried out in Penco by Fondo Fénix, a public–private fund financed in part by the Production Development Corporation (CORFO).[7]