ASM: Australia's Quiet Over-Achiever in Critical Minerals

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The metallization process for rare earth elements (REEs) is a complex chemical and electrochemical process. Here's how it generally works:

Starting Material: The process begins with rare earth oxides (REOs), which are compounds where rare earth elements are bound with oxygen.Conversion Process: The key steps involve:

The oxide is first converted into a chloride or fluoride form
This compound is then reduced using various methods like electrolysis or metallothermic reduction
For ASM specifically, they use a proprietary reduction process that's more environmentally friendly than traditional methods


End Result: The process produces high-purity rare earth metals, which can then be used in:

Permanent magnets
Electronics
Defense applications
Various high-tech components


The main advantages of ASM's approach include:

Lower environmental impact compared to traditional methods
Reduced use of harmful chemicals
More energy-efficient process
Higher purity end products

The metallization process is crucial because rare earth metals in their pure metallic form are much more valuable than their oxide form, and they're essential for many modern technologies.

Based on publicly available information about ASM's metallization process (known as the "ZircoMAX" process when applied to zirconium), here are the key aspects:

The process uses electrochemical reduction in molten salts, which differs from traditional Kroll or electrolytic processes by:

Using a continuous flow system rather than batch processing
Operating at lower temperatures compared to traditional methods
Requiring less energy overall in the reduction process
Producing fewer waste products

Their process reportedly combines aspects of:

Molten salt electrolysis
Direct reduction
Continuous processing technology

Many specific details of ASM's proprietary process are not public, as this is their core intellectual property. The exact chemistry, operating conditions, and technical specifications are kept confidential.