Visiting Estonia: “Rare Earth magnet value chain” training event.
In spring 2024 the group of teachers representing ExpSkills-REM project (https://expskills-rem.eu/) visited Estonia to perform the training on Rare Earth magnet value chain the engineers and managers of Neo Performance Materials group (https://www.neomaterials.com/): NPM Narva OÜ and NPM Silmet OÜ. One person from Neo Magnequench was also present.
It was our great pleasure to meet the highly motivated, enthusiastic and professional Neo team. We also were glad to visit Tallinn and Narva, as well as industrial sites located in Eastern Estonia
NPM Narva OÜ
NPM Narva OÜ is a plant under construction to produce Rare Earth permanent magnets, located in Narva, Estonia. Construction work started in August 2023. The construction site of the first phase of the plant is expected to be ready in September 2024. Installation and commissioning of the equipment will be done in October-December 2024. The magnet production will begin in early 2025. The capacity of permanent magnet production during Phase 1 should be 2000 tons of magnet blocks per year. The plant will reach its full capacity during 2027.
NPM Silmet OÜ
NPM Silmet is one of the biggest, rare metal and rare earth metal producers in Europe. Manufacturing operations at the facility includes several factories that conduct the following operations: Rare metals production (Tantalum, Niobium) and rare earth metals separation. NPM Silmet’s Tantalum is sold primarily in a metal form to the alloy industry. The number of employees is about 500 people.
The course event took place in the conference room at Narva Hotel, in Narva and in the meeting room at Silmet OÜ, in Sillamäe. The training was conducted face-to-face, but there was an opportunity for both teachers and students to participate on-line.
Day 1: Magnet-based devices, April 2, 2024
The training started with the lecture on Basic concepts of magnetism and then continued with presentation of Module 3, Design and fabrication of magnet-based devices and components. The quiz on Module 3 (and other modules) was distributed at the beginning of the day, to make it easier for the participants to understand the lecture content.
Day 2: Recycling, April 3, 2024
The second day of training was dedicated to recycling of REEs and other CRMs, Module 4. The lecture material includes: Introduction to Rare Earth permanent magnets, Recycling of REE’s from permanent magnets, Prepocessing Hydrometallurgical recovery of REEs from permanent magnets based on MONOLITHOS’ recycling method. At the end of the day, it was a guided tour to Silmet facilities organized for the course participants.
Day 3: Life Cycle Assessment, April 4, 2024.
The day began with visiting construction site of the NPM Narva OÜ magnet plant, followed by the presentation of Module 5 Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Magnets and environmental impact. The lecturing material includes types and benefits of LCA, sustainable magnet recycling and environmental impact improvement strategies. In the evening, the management of NPM Narva invited all course participants to diner at Narva Castle.
Day 4: Current and Novel production methods of Rare-Earths Permanent Magnets (REPM), April 5, 2024.
On Day 4, Module 2 on technology for production of permanent magnets was presented. It included fully dense REPM production techniques; permanent magnets coating: Corrosion protection of Rare Earth magnets; Bonded REPM production techniques and Advanced REPM production techniques.
Day 5: Rare-Earth Elements containing ores in Mining, May 20, 2024
Module 1 on Mining of REEs was presented on the second half of May 2024. The one-day event was taken place in Silmet. The training includes Exploration and mining of rare earth elements; Safety and Environmental Aspects of REE Mining; Social Licence to Operate in mining of Rare Earth elements and Socio-technical toolbox. A guided tour to Silmet facilities was organized for the UniOvi team.
Certificates
After completing the course, Certificates were issued.
