Critical materials for magnets: Strand 1, feasibility studies

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £5 million in innovation projects as part of the CLIMATES programme, that is focused on circular critical materials supply chains.

The aim of this competition is to stimulate growth in a circular critical materials supply chain for high performance magnets. Collaborative innovation projects will address opportunities across the whole value chain and help increase supply chain resilience.

This competition is split into 2 strands:

• Critical materials for magnets: Strand 1 (this Strand), early-stage feasibility studies that will enable the adoption of new innovations in processes or technologies by industry that enable a more resilient UK supply chain for rare earth elements (REE)
• Critical materials for magnets: Strand 2, mid and late-stage R&D projects that accelerate the industrialisation and commercialisation of innovative processes and technologies that enable a more resilient UK supply chain for REE

It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope.

Eligibility

Your project must:

• have total costs up to £500,000
• start on 1 October 2023
• last up to 12 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size
• collaborate with other UK registered organisations

A business can only lead on a maximum of 3 applications across both strands of the competition and can be included as a collaborator in a further 3 applications. Successful applicants in multiple applications will be asked to confirm they have the capacity to run multiple projects simultaneously.

If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications across both strands. An academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation or RTO can collaborate on any number of applications across both strands.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to stimulate growth in a circular critical materials supply chain for high performance magnets. Collaborative innovation projects will address opportunities across the whole value chain and help increase supply chain resilience.

Your project must be focused on rare earth elements (REE) or new and alternative materials for permanent magnets. REEs are defined as the group of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, the fifteen Lanthanides plus Scandium and Yttrium.

Your project can cover one, or more of the following areas:

Mining and up-stream

• development of sustainable mining processes for extracting REE containing minerals. This includes the up-steam processing of leaching, separation and concentration of mixed REE oxides.
• processes that address management or valorisation of radioactive by-products

Mid-stream

• development of novel, sustainable mid-stream processing routes to REE metals
• increased efficiency or productivity improvements for mid-stream processing to REE metals
• development of novel, sustainable manufacturing routes to REE alloys

Down-stream and magnet manufacture

• development of novel, sustainable manufacturing routes to REE magnets
• increased efficiency or productivity improvements for magnet manufacturing
• sustainable routes integrating materials from primary and secondary material feedstocks
• increased technical properties and performance of magnets
• decreased scrap production in magnet manufacturin

Circular supply chains

• identification, collection, sorting, separation, dismantling REE containing end-of-life products
• circular design of products containing high performance magnets
• safe and economic removal of high-performance magnets from end-of-life products
• novel and sustainable routes for processing of recovered REE materials
• valorisation of scrap material produced during magnet manufacture
• environmental, societal, governance
• solutions for the provenance of REE materials for instance, sustainability models for life cycle analysis, measuring and accounting for embedded carbon, radioactivity and other environmental and societal impacts

New and alternative materials

• development of novel materials for high-performance magnets
• substitution of materials for high-performance magnets
• cross-disciplinary mine to magnet approaches for materials identification

This list is not exhaustive. You must contact us to discuss the scope eligibility of any alternative areas by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes.

We are not funding projects:

• that do not focus on the materials supply chain, either primary or secondary
• designing new magnet-free electric motors
• that are developing existing non-magnet products
• not focused on REE or a materials substitution
• not being primarily exploited in the UK
• addressing extending the life of magnet containing products

Briefing and support

An online briefing will be held on Tuesday 5th April, 10am-11.30am: click here to register for a place. A recording will be made available shortly afterwards.

Innovate UK KTN will also be holding an in-person networking event on Tuesday 19th April in Birmingham: click here to register for a place.

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Materials team.