The United States is building rare earth separation capacity for the first time in forty years. The chemistry those plants run on — extractants, diluents, modifiers, precipitants — is sourced almost entirely from China.
Schleier Materials supplies that chemistry from producers outside China, with specification control and technical support behind every lot.
Product scope
| Product | CAS | Application |
|---|---|---|
| D2EHPA Di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid · P204 | 298-07-7 | Solvent extraction — rare earths, cobalt, zinc, uranium |
| PC88A 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester · P507 | 14802-03-0 | Adjacent lanthanide separation, nickel–cobalt |
| Phosphinic acid extractants Bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid | 83411-71-6 | Nickel–cobalt separation, black mass leachate |
| Tributyl phosphate TBP | 126-73-8 | Light rare earth fractionation, uranium circuits |
| Oxalic acid Anhydrous and dihydrate, REE grade | 144-62-7 | Rare earth precipitation |
| Aliphatic diluents and modifiers Kerosene-range hydrocarbons, isodecanol | 25339-17-7 | Organic phase carrier, third-phase suppression |
| Terbium and dysprosium fluoride TbF₃ · DyF₃ | 13708-63-9 | Grain boundary diffusion, sintered NdFeB magnets |
Sourced from producers in Europe, Japan and North America. Certificate of analysis on every lot, with trace metals, free acid, monoester content and water specified to the requirements of the receiving circuit.
Markets
Solvent extraction circuits separating adjacent lanthanides from mixed oxide and chloride feeds.
Black mass processing and nickel–cobalt separation, using the same extractant families.
Grain boundary diffusion materials and surface treatment chemistry for sintered NdFeB.
Hydrometallurgical circuits recovering minor metals from primary and secondary feeds.
Capability
Direct relationships with non-Chinese producers. Qualification of alternate sources against an existing circuit specification rather than a generic grade.
Analytical certification to the parameters that matter in a running circuit — trace metals by ICP-OES, free acid and monoester by titration, water by Karl Fischer.
Hazmat handling, drum and IBC packaging, Gulf Coast warehousing and freight into remote mill sites.
Organic phase characterization, crud and degradation diagnosis, and compatibility work on the chemistry we supply.
Background
Schleier Materials was founded by Tommy Schleier, who co-founded and spent eight years building EPIC Chemistry, a Texas specialty chemical distributor serving oilfield accounts.
Sourcing, supplier qualification and hazmat logistics are the same problems in critical minerals as in oilfield chemistry. The difference is that most of this supply chain runs through a single country, and the plants now coming online in the United States need an alternative that can be qualified and relied on.
Defense
Schleier Materials is pursuing domestic production of critical defense chemicals through the Department of Defense Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization program, as a member of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium.
Tommy Schleier
Founder