The company recently invested more than US$5 million to lift recovered-material capacity to 150 tonnes per year on a three-shift basis, with the expanded facility expected to be operational by the beginning of the third quarter of next year. Paladin operates six facilities across the United States and two in Europe, in the Netherlands and Ireland, with a South Korean operation planned, and intends to replicate its rare earth recovery capabilities in Europe and Korea.
Through its REcapture initiative and joint venture partner Critical Minerals Recycling, Inc., Paladin recovers neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium and terbium using patented technology developed with the Critical Minerals Institute at the US Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory, using an acid-free dissolution method. The process works across multiple feedstocks, from hard drives to industrial scrap, and the company positions it as a domestic, low-impact pathway to convert retired assets into traceable critical-material inputs for hyperscalers, manufacturers and regulated industries.
The scale case is modest but strategic. One hundred fifty tonnes a year is a fraction of US rare earth demand, and the actual contribution will depend on securing suitable feedstock and delivering material that downstream customers accept. Paladin’s Luke Wray, the company’s senior vice president for critical materials and defense, put the framing plainly: mining remains necessary, but recycling can address part of the short-term supply problem from end-of-life assets.