Pure Resources Advances ORNL Rare Earth Programme Into Phase Characterisation
Key Takeaways
- Pure Resources' ORNL Strategic Partnership (SPP No. NFE-25-10985) has progressed beyond proof-of-concept recovery into phase characterisation of reaction products, with X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy now underway at a separate specialist group within ORNL.
- The programme targets the full rare earth suite — not just neodymium and praseodymium — with explicit focus on heavy and minor rare earths including erbium, ytterbium, yttrium, and europium used in quantum computing, photonics, and defence systems.
- Phase characterisation is a prerequisite to patenting and scaling: the findings will feed directly into the invention disclosure and shape the design of the next testwork phase.
- The process, including reagents, conditions, and proportions, remains confidential intellectual property with a prospective patent filing and licensing pathway in progress.
- Four planned next steps have been outlined: completing phase characterisation, expanding testwork to quantify recovery and elemental distribution, assessing separation and purification pathways, and advancing the patent filing.
ORNL programme advances to phase characterisation as Pure Resources widens rare earth focus
Pure Resources Limited (ASX: PR1) has advanced its Strategic Partnership Project (SPP No. NFE-25-10985) with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) beyond proof-of-concept recovery into phase characterisation of reaction products. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements are now underway to identify the phases present in products generated from Garnet Hills garnet, supporting the invention disclosure being progressed under the partnership. Critically, the programme is directed at the full rare earth suite, not the neodymium–praseodymium magnet pair alone.
This follows the company’s earlier announcement on 21 August 2026 that heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) had been recovered from Garnet Hills garnet at a proof-of-concept stage. No recovery figures, purities, grades, or JORC-compliant results are reported in this update. The work remains laboratory-scale, preliminary, and qualitative.
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What phase characterisation means and why it matters for the programme
Before recovery can be quantified or optimised, researchers must first understand precisely what the process has produced. Phase characterisation is that step: identifying the specific chemical phases or compounds present in the reaction products, so the team knows exactly what it is working with.
That understanding feeds directly into the invention disclosure and shapes the design of the next testwork phase. It is the “blueprint reading” stage of the process, and completing it is a prerequisite to patenting and scaling.
X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy at ORNL
X-ray diffraction identifies the crystalline phases present in a material by measuring how X-rays scatter off its atomic structure. Raman spectroscopy identifies molecular composition by measuring how light interacts with chemical bonds in a sample.
ORNL has transferred the reaction products to a separate specialist group within the laboratory specifically for this characterisation work, distinct from the team conducting the process experiments. The company has noted that ORNL completed a series of experiments varying the key process parameters before this transfer.
Protecting the process as confidential intellectual property
The process itself, including its reagents, conditions, proportions, and all associated analytical data, remains confidential and is not disclosed in this announcement. A prospective patent filing and licensing pathway is in progress. No process details are available for public comment at this stage.
Beyond magnets — the full rare earth suite and quantum computing applications
Most rare earth projects are assessed primarily on neodymium and praseodymium, the elements used in permanent magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines. Pure Resources’ ORNL programme is deliberately broader, targeting heavy and minor rare earths used in quantum computing, quantum networking, photonics, precision optics, and defence systems.
The table below is drawn from Table 1 in the announcement and is provided as general industry context. It is general industry information compiled from publicly available sources and is not company data. Inclusion of an element does not confirm that it is present in, or recoverable from, Garnet Hills material, nor that the company produces or will produce any product for the applications described.
| Element | Key application(s) | Quantum/tech relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Neodymium, Praseodymium | Permanent magnets (EV traction motors, wind turbines); laser systems for qubit control | Qubit laser systems (Nd); solid-state quantum memory research dopant (Pr) |
| Dysprosium, Terbium | High-temperature coercivity additives in Nd-Fe-B magnets; defence actuators and sensors | Magnet performance; defence applications |
| Erbium | Optical fibre amplifiers; telecom-band quantum memories and quantum repeaters at 1.54 micrometres | Quantum networking — links quantum processors over existing fibre infrastructure |
| Ytterbium | Trapped-ion qubit species; qubit control lasers; optical atomic clocks; fibre laser gain media | Trapped-ion quantum computing; atomic clock precision |
| Yttrium | Host crystal lattice for rare earth-doped quantum memory materials; yttrium iron garnet microwave isolators in superconducting qubit control chains; technical ceramics | Superconducting and optical quantum computing hardware |
| Europium | Dopant in solid-state optical and quantum memory materials; phosphors | Quantum memory research — long coherence times demonstrated in laboratory settings |
These applications do not consume rare earths in bulk. They consume very small quantities at very high purity with tightly specified impurity profiles. Pure Resources has stated explicitly that rare earth volumes consumed by quantum computing and quantum information research are very small in absolute terms and are not expected to be material to revenue. The company’s interest is technical and strategic, not a volume market opportunity.
Heavy and minor rare earths are produced in small volumes globally and are separated almost entirely within a single jurisdiction. In most of these applications, substitution is limited or unavailable.
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CEO perspective and planned next steps
Rocco Tassone, Chief Executive Officer, Pure Resources Limited
“Most rare earth projects are assessed on neodymium and praseodymium for magnets. Our objective with ORNL is deliberately broader. The heavy and minor rare earths – erbium, ytterbium, yttrium and europium among them – are the elements that photonics and quantum hardware depend on. They are produced in small volumes globally, separated almost entirely within a single jurisdiction, and in most of these applications they cannot be substituted. That is why we asked ORNL to look at the full suite rather than the magnet pair alone. This work is early-stage and laboratory-scale, and there is a great deal still to establish, but understanding precisely what our process produces is the necessary next step before anything further can be assessed.”
The planned work programme, as outlined in the announcement, consists of four steps:
- Completion of phase characterisation of the reaction products and incorporation of findings into the invention disclosure
- Expanded ORNL laboratory testwork directed at quantifying recovery and assessing the distribution of individual rare earth elements, including heavy rare earths
- Preliminary assessment of separation and purification pathways for recovered rare earths
- Advancing the company’s intellectual property position, including a prospective patent filing
Pure Resources pursues an integrated mine-to-market strategy across three pillars: the Garnet Hills Project in Western Australia (upstream graphite and garnet, held under a granted mining lease), the ORNL Strategic Partnership (targeting HREEs and yttrium for US critical materials supply chains), and the TEMPERON™ downstream R&D collaboration with Rice University in Houston focused on carbon nanotube fibre technology. The ORNL programme sits at the centre of that strategy, and this characterisation phase represents the next methodical step in establishing what the Garnet Hills garnet process can produce.
The Garnet Hills defence materials platform positions this project well beyond a conventional rare earth play, integrating upstream garnet and graphite production with downstream processing research targeting critical supply chains for US defence and advanced technology sectors.
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