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New Hampshire isn't exactly the first place you think of when the topic of heavy metal mining comes up. Usually, people think of vast open pits in Western Australia or deep shafts in the Congo. But tucked away in an unassuming industrial space, Phoenix Tailings Exeter NH is basically trying to flip the entire global mining industry on its head. They aren't digging new holes. Honestly, they think digging new holes is a waste of time and energy when the world has already left billions of tons of "trash" lying around in the form of tailings.
Mining is messy. Everyone knows it. You crush mountains of rock to get a tiny sliver of copper or gold, and then you're left with this toxic, slushy pile of leftover waste called tailings. It sits in ponds. It leaks. It’s a massive liability for mining companies. But for the team at Phoenix Tailings, that waste is actually a goldmine of rare earth elements and critical metals.
What is Phoenix Tailings doing in Exeter?
The company started with a pretty wild idea: what if we could use a zero-waste process to extract value from what everyone else threw away? Most traditional refining uses harsh acids or massive amounts of carbon-heavy energy. It’s dirty work. The Exeter facility serves as a primary hub for their research and scaled-down production of high-purity metals. We are talking about things like Neodymium, Dysprosium, and even Magnesium.
You've probably heard about the "green energy transition." It sounds great on paper, but it requires a staggering amount of rare earth magnets for EV motors and wind turbines. Currently, China controls the vast majority of that supply chain. By setting up Phoenix Tailings Exeter NH, the founders—Nick Myers, Tomas Villalón Jr., and their team—are carving out a path for domestic production that doesn't involve the ecological nightmare of traditional mining.
The chemistry behind the curtain
They use a proprietary electrochemical process. Instead of boiling rocks in acid, they use "molten salt electrolysis." It sounds like science fiction, but it’s basically a way to separate metals at much lower temperatures and without the nasty byproducts. They've managed to refine metals to 99.9% purity. That’s the kind of stuff you need for high-end electronics and defense applications.
One of the coolest parts? The process is meant to be carbon-neutral. Because they are working with "pre-crushed" material (the tailings), the most energy-intensive part of mining—crushing the earth—is already done. They are just the cleaners. They take the pile, pull out the valuable stuff, and leave behind something that is actually inert and safe.
Why the Exeter location matters for the Seacoast
It’s an odd fit, right? Exeter is a historic town. It’s known for Phillips Exeter Academy and cute brick buildings, not industrial metal refining. But the Seacoast region of New Hampshire has quietly become a tech corridor. You have proximity to Boston’s talent pool but without the $60-per-square-foot rent.
The presence of Phoenix Tailings Exeter NH has brought a specific kind of "hard tech" energy to the area. They aren't just building an app. They are building machines that melt salt and move ions. This creates jobs for chemical engineers, material scientists, and specialized technicians who want to stay in New England.
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- The company has secured millions in funding.
- They’ve won grants from the Department of Energy (ARPA-E).
- They are actively partnering with some of the biggest mining firms on the planet to process their waste.
The "Green" irony of modern mining
There is a huge contradiction in the tech world right now. We want Teslas. We want solar panels. But we don't want the mines that produce the materials for them. This "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) sentiment is real. By focusing on tailings, Phoenix Tailings sidesteps the biggest political hurdle in the industry. You don't have to convince a community to let you blow up a mountain if you're just cleaning up an old site that’s already there.
In places like the Adirondacks or old mining towns in the West, these tailings piles are environmental ticking time bombs. Some contain heavy metals that leach into groundwater. If the Exeter team can prove that their modular systems can be shipped to these sites, they solve two problems at once: they get the metals we need for batteries, and they remediate a hazardous waste site.
Real-world impact and the magnesium play
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about Magnesium. It’s a "critical mineral" because it’s used to make aluminum alloys stronger and lighter. If you’ve ever looked at a high-end mountain bike or a car frame, you’re looking at magnesium. Historically, the US has relied heavily on imports. Phoenix Tailings has been pushing hard to show that they can produce primary magnesium right here.
It isn't just a lab experiment anymore. They are moving into commercial-scale production. This is where the rubber meets the road. Scaling up hardware is notoriously difficult—much harder than scaling software. You have to deal with heat, corrosion, and supply chains. But the progress seen at the Exeter site suggests they’ve cracked the code on the core chemistry.
What people get wrong about "Urban Mining"
Sometimes people lump Phoenix Tailings in with "urban miners" who take apart old iPhones. That’s not what this is. Urban mining is great, but the volume of material in old phones is tiny compared to the sheer mass of mining waste sitting in tailing ponds. We are talking about billions of tons.
Phoenix Tailings is more like "Remnant Mining." They are the scavengers of the industrial age, but they use 21st-century electrochemistry to do it. It’s a much more scalable solution than just recycling old gadgets.
The challenges ahead
It isn't all easy wins. The price of rare earth elements can be incredibly volatile. If the price of Neodymium drops because of global market shifts, the economics of refining tailings can get shaky. Also, every tailings pile is different. A pile in an iron mine in New York has a different chemical signature than a copper mine in Arizona.
The Exeter team has to be part chemists and part detectives. They have to analyze the "ore" (the waste) and tweak their process for every new source. It’s a constant game of optimization.
Actionable steps for following the industry
If you're interested in how the Seacoast is changing or how the US is trying to fix its mineral supply chain, there are a few things you should keep an eye on.
First, watch the Department of Energy (DOE) announcements regarding the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. They are the ones handing out the big grants that help companies like Phoenix Tailings bridge the gap between a "cool idea" and a "working factory."
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Second, look at the local zoning and environmental reports in the Exeter area. As these companies grow, they interact more with the local power grid and waste management systems. It’s a great case study in how "clean" industry integrates into a community.
Third, if you’re a student or a professional in the sciences, pay attention to the shift toward Hydrometallurgy and Electrometallurgy. The old "Pyrometallurgy" (smelting things at insane heats) is dying out because it’s too expensive and too dirty. The future is in the liquid phase—exactly what is happening behind the doors at Phoenix Tailings.
Exeter might seem like a quiet town, but the work being done there is a loud statement about the future of how we treat the Earth. We don't necessarily need more mines; we just need to be smarter about the ones we've already dug.
Next Steps for Implementation:
- Monitor Supply Chain Legislation: Track the "Critical Minerals" lists updated by the US Geological Survey (USGS). This determines which metals Phoenix Tailings will prioritize next based on federal subsidies.
- Evaluate Local Infrastructure: For those in New Hampshire, follow the Rockingham Planning Commission's updates on industrial development to see how Exeter's infrastructure is adapting to support high-tech manufacturing power requirements.
- Study Circular Economy Models: Read the latest whitepapers from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on circular mining to understand the broader economic framework that Phoenix Tailings is operating within.