Caremag Lacq
Caremag SAS (a Carester subsidiary) rare earth recycling and refining facility under construction at Lacq, France. Financed in March 2025 with EUR 216 million (EUR 110 million from JOGMEC and Iwatani via a joint venture, EUR 106 million from the French government), it targets recycling 2,000 t/y of end-of-life magnets and refining 5,000 t/y of mining concentrates into 600 t/y of dysprosium-terbium oxides and 800 t/y of NdPr oxides. Recognised as an EU CRMA Strategic Project (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/840) and a centrepiece of the May 2026 French national rare earths plan.
Location: Lacq, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, France
Rare earth recycling and refining (mixed magnet and concentrate feed)
Under construction
Long-loop recycling of end-of-life magnets (2,000 t/y) combined with refining of mining concentrates (5,000 t/y) into separated rare earth oxides; patented processes recycling over 80% of direct CO2 emissions with no liquid effluents
Material flow
Magnet Scrap and End-of-Life Feedstock, Monazite Concentrate → Dysprosium and Terbium Oxides, NdPr Oxide
Capacity
600 t/year · Product mass · Target · as of Mar 17, 2025
800 t/year · Product mass · Target · as of Mar 17, 2025
Qualification
Sources
- Carester · published Mar 17, 2025 · retrieved Aug 11, 2026 · archive
- EUR-Lex / Publications Office of the European Union · published Mar 25, 2025 · retrieved Aug 11, 2026 · archive
- Actu-Environnement · published Mar 18, 2025 · retrieved Aug 11, 2026 · archive
- Direction generale des Entreprises (French Ministry of the Economy) · published May 6, 2026 · retrieved Aug 11, 2026 · archive