Pensana PLC on Tuesday published its ’Blueprint for Sustainable Rare Earths’ sustainability report, as it seeks to supply rare earth metals for the energy transition.

The London-based rare earth metal miner said that two of the biggest components of the energy transition - phasing out internal combustion engines and rapidly growing offshore wind power - are dependent on ‘rare earth permanent magnets.’

Rare earth metals - such as neodymium and cerium - are used in many different kinds of high-technology applications including electric cars, television screens and camera lenses.

The company noted the estimate from the International Energy Agency, which suggested the world would have to increase the supply of rare earth metals by over 700% by 2040 to meet renewable technology demand. Pensana said it is ‘positioned to help meet this global demand growth.’

Pensana wanted to stress the sustainability of its own production, particularly in contrast to Chinese production.

China supplies over 90% of the permanent magnets required for renewable technologies and ‘feels that it is under no obligation to supply them to the rest of the world,’ according to Pensana.

Additionally, rare earth metals supplied from China may not meet Western environmental, social and governance standards, the firm said. In contrast, Pensana said it aims to ‘produce the lowest embedded carbon products in the rare earth industry’ and to achieve net-zero across the value chain by no later than 2040.

As part of its blueprint, Pensana has issued 11 ‘specific ambitions’. It will report on its progress against each of the ambitions alongside its annual sustainability reporting.

The ambitions include: sending zero waste to landfill by 2035; implementing rare earth recycling scheme to displace some of the need for mining; and developing infrastructure so that communities local to the site see long term, economic benefit.

Chair Paul Atherley commented: ‘The Pensana Blueprint for Sustainable Rare Earths is an important document as it clearly sets out our commitment to all stakeholders and importantly to our customers that we put the highest ESG standards at the heart of our operations. Sustainability is always going to be work in progress however I am most grateful to the ESG committee for its leadership on this Blueprint which provides a clear pathway to embedding ESG into every decision, at every stage and using independent experts to monitor our progress.’

Shares in Pensana were trading 0.2% lower at 43.90 pence each on Tuesday afternoon.

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