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The Utah discovery story refers to Ionic Mineral Technologies’ Silicon Ridge project in Utah County. The company reported promising assay results in December 2025 and, in July 2026, announced a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) prepared by SGS. The project is not established as a source of commercial production: the reported grade is based on company-described sampling, and the PEA is preliminary and relies heavily on inferred resources.
What was discovered at Silicon Ridge?
Ionic Mineral Technologies said independent ALS Chemex assays confirmed a halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption clay system at Silicon Ridge. In its December 12, 2025 announcement, the company reported a combined rare earth and critical-metal suite averaging approximately 2,700 parts per million (ppm), or 0.27%, in the halloysite clay fraction. It described that concentration as 4.74 times the level in bulk host material.
The company said the results came from 106 boreholes totaling more than 10,000 meters and 35 trenches across 650 acres. It reported confirming the grade over 11% of the resource area and to a depth of 100 feet. These are company-reported assay and sampling figures, not a government resource statement.
Which metals did the company name?
The December announcement listed gallium, germanium, rubidium, cesium, scandium, lithium, vanadium, tungsten, niobium, and both light and heavy rare earth elements. Ionic MT calls its asserted combination of rare earths and other technology metals “IAC-Plus”; that is the company’s term, not an independent classification.
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What does the 2026 economic assessment say?
On July 15, 2026, Ionic MT announced an SGS-prepared PEA under U.S. Regulation S-K Subpart 1300. The company’s PEA announcement reports the following modeled results:
| Measure | Company-reported PEA result |
|---|---|
| After-tax net present value (NPV) | Approximately $12.1 billion at an 8% discount rate |
| After-tax internal rate of return (IRR) | 69% |
| Payback period | 1.5 years |
| Projected life-of-mine gross revenue | More than $92 billion |
| Initial operating plan | 44 years |
These are preliminary modeled estimates, not current sales, production, or guaranteed project value. The proposed portfolio includes alumina products, amorphous nano-silica, and 19 individually valued critical minerals and rare earth elements. The release says lithium, hafnium, lanthanum, and cerium were assigned zero value in the model; the independent Qualified Person selected some of the modeled prices and payability assumptions.
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Why the resource category matters
The company says approximately three quarters of the mineral resource supporting the PEA is inferred. Inferred resources are too speculative for the modifying factors needed to classify them as mineral reserves. The PEA itself warns there is no certainty its results will be realized and states: “Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.” That qualification is central to interpreting the headline economics.
Is Silicon Ridge producing rare earths now?
The available company announcements establish reported assays and a preliminary economic assessment, not commercial production. Ionic MT’s 2025 release described the project as on state-leased land with active mining permits and pointed to a permitted 74,000-square-foot processing facility in Provo. Those details do not establish that the facility is processing Silicon Ridge ore or that the project is supplying metals commercially.
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In December 2025, CEO Andre Zeitoun called the project a “domestic, shovel-ready source” and described its extraction process as faster and cleaner than traditional hard-rock methods. Those are the executive’s characterizations, not independently established conclusions about project readiness or process performance.
How does Silicon Ridge fit Utah’s critical-mineral picture?
Utah’s mineral activity includes projects and processing distinct from Silicon Ridge. A 2025 Utah legislative report says the state had not historically had significant rare earth deposits, while also noting known resources of other critical minerals, including indium, gallium, germanium, vanadium, and zinc.
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The report says White Mesa Mill produced nearly 84,000 pounds of neodymium-praseodymium oxalate and nearly 20,000 pounds of heavy rare-earth concentrate in 2024 from processed feedstock that included imported monazite. That processing activity is not production from Silicon Ridge. Separately, the Utah Geological Survey describes the West Desert deposit in Juab County as the only established U.S. indium resource and identifies zinc and copper there; it is a different deposit, not part of the Silicon Ridge announcement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the project’s stage means for readers
Mineral announcements describe different levels of evidence. An assay reports what was measured in sampled material; a resource estimate characterizes mineralization under defined categories; and a PEA models a possible development using assumptions about mining, processing, prices, and costs. None of those stages alone means a mine is built, operating, or economically proven. The distinction matters beyond Utah: the U.S. Geological Survey’s September 29, 2026 update listed 1,271 known critical-mineral deposits across 41 states and Puerto Rico, of which 412 had documented resources and no production. Those national figures provide context, not validation of Silicon Ridge.
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