USA Rare Earth taps quantum computing to improve rare earth separation

USA Rare Earth Inc. (NASDAQ: USAR) has partnered with Pasqal and Riven to use quantum machine learning to improve rare earth separation technology.

The companies aim to discover new chemical extractants that bind more effectively to rare earth elements than current alternatives. Additionally, better extractants could reduce the size, cost and energy requirements of rare earth processing facilities.

USA Rare Earth brings rare earth processing expertise to the partnership. Pasqal will provide quantum computing technology, while Riven will contribute its automated minerals separation laboratory.

The project will focus on separating mixed rare earth carbonate into individual rare earth oxides. This process remains one of the industry’s most difficult technical challenges outside Asia.

China currently dominates rare earth separation, particularly for heavy elements including dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. Consequently, Western producers have sought technologies that could establish more competitive domestic processing capacity.

Riven will conduct thousands of automated experiments to generate chemical data for the project. Its self-driving laboratory will test how different extractant molecules interact with individual rare earth elements.