JX Advanced Metals Corporation has agreed with Tronox Holdings plc to study whether the two can run a rare-earth refining business together. JX Advanced Metals resolved to start the study on 29 September 2026, and the agreement was signed the same day. The disclosure describes a feasibility exercise, not a plant approval, a construction start or a supply contract.
The money and the timetable
The study is expected to cost a total of $32mn (about ¥5bn at ¥157 to the dollar, the rate on 28 September 2026), with each company planning to bear 50%. The joint study is scheduled to begin in October 2026, and the target is to finish it during 2027.
Candidate sites are Australia and the US, though the release says "and others" and reflects only the current assumption. The work will assess the commercial viability of leaching, separation and refining of rare-earth concentrates and elements.
What is being tested
The study will test the technical feasibility, the economics and the business structure of a project that would process rare-earth minerals from Tronox and from third parties. The current concept assumes output of up to about 10,000 tonnes a year in rare-earth oxide equivalent. That is a planning figure for the study, not production capacity that has been built or approved.
The split of roles is spelled out. JX Advanced Metals will contribute its know-how in non-ferrous smelting, recycling and high-purity processing, along with its knowledge of advanced materials. Tronox will bring rare-earth-bearing mineral resources, mine operation and mineral separation expertise, and experience handling feedstock and products that contain radioactive material. It will also supply business bases and infrastructure at the candidate sites.
Tronox, which JX describes as one of the world's largest titanium dioxide pigment makers, is already weighing a move into rare earths. The release says it is looking at using its mineral-sand mine and mineral-separation facilities in Australia.
Why JX Advanced Metals is interested
JX Advanced Metals says rare earths are essential to its advanced materials and that it has worked on supply-chain resilience in resource development. Adding a smelting step would connect raw material to finished product. The company says the aim is to help diversify and stabilise rare-earth supply for Japan, and it points to heavy dependence on particular countries and regions across the refining stages as the underlying problem.
The company says the effect on consolidated results for the year ending March 2027 is minor. The release gives no decision on entering the business, no investment figure for a plant and no offtake terms.