Lisbon, June 29, 2026 (Lusa) - N9VE is producing rare-earth oxides in Portugal with a purity of over 99.8%, the Portuguese company announced on Monday, describing this as a milestone for European industrial self-sufficiency.

In a statement released today, the company said that production takes place at the Rare Earths & Magnetics Innovation Centre in Barcelos, where it develops and validates solutions for the recovery and purification of these materials.

According to N9VE, rare earths are critical raw materials for sectors such as wind energy, electric mobility, advanced electronics, robotics and defence, at a time when Europe continues to rely heavily on imports.

Quoted in the press release, the company’s chief executive (CEO), José Pinheiro-Torres, said that “for Europe, time is of the essence”, emphasising that opening new mines can take more than 16 years before they come on stream, whilst thousands of wind turbines are approaching the end of their useful life.

“This reality creates an immediate opportunity: to recover rare earths that are already present on European soil and transform them into a new strategic source for industry,” he added.

The company explained that, in wind turbines using permanent magnets, these components can account for several tonnes per unit and contain around 30% rare earths.

N9VE argued that recovering rare earths that have already been extracted helps reduce reliance on new raw materials, preserve the value of the materials, and promote a more circular economy.

The company sees this development as aligned with the priorities of the European Union’s (EU) Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to strengthen European capacity in critical raw materials and reduce external dependence.

The team is developing the technology on an industrial scale as part of the N9VE.REEnew project, co-funded by COMPETE 2030, Portugal 2030 and the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

PYR/ADB // ADB.

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