Critical Minerals and Rare Earth Elements
Tetra Tech delivers comprehensive, end-to-end solutions for rare earth and critical minerals extraction, processing, and refining to accelerate supply chain security.
As technology rapidly advances, Tetra Tech’s global operations are accelerating alternate supply chains for critical minerals (CM) and rare earth elements (REE). Tetra Tech provides of a full range of services including scoping studies, fast track permitting, design, and process engineering to unlock these vital materials—particularly heavy REEs—from the world’s most concentrated assets.
Our clients benefit from Tetra Tech’s highly specialized consulting, global presence and rapid, reliable support across the full project lifecycle. We leverage established relationships with commercial mining customers, government agencies, development financial institutions, and academia to enhance supply chain security and ensure resilient, sustainable, and diversified access to CM, including light and heavy REE.
Tetra Tech acts as a trusted advisor to clients navigating emerging opportunities and regulatory requirements, and helps clients meet stringent environment and social standards. We work closely with partners to pursue innovative funding opportunities to advance the development of next-generation processing solutions.
Consulting and Advisory
Tetra Tech helps clients identify, assess, and prioritize opportunities across the full CM value chain. We support strategic decision-making, investment readiness, and policy alignment.
- Investment, transaction, and policy advisory
- Supply chain management, mapping, risk analysis, and advisory
- Value, commercial viability, pre-feasibility, and feasibility assessments
- Political and social analysis
- Stakeholder engagement
- Support for public-private partnerships (PPPs) and off-take agreements
- Development Finance Institution (DFI) compliance advisory e.g., International Finance Corporation (IFC) performance standards
- Logistical integration
- Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) compliance
Design and Engineering
We deliver innovative, environmentally sound solutions for recovering REEs and CMs from primary and secondary sources.
- Engineering solutions including process engineering, detailed design and management, scoping, and front-end engineering design (FEED)
- Infrastructure planning and engineering
- Energy systems and decarbonization
- Water resource and wastewater engineering
- REE processing
- Alternate and renewable energy solutions for mines
- Geospatial intelligence and remote monitoring
- Technology and Infrastructure
Environmental and Permitting
Strong ESG performance is essential to securing investment and public support. Tetra Tech helps clients meet evolving permitting and compliance demands while building community trust.
- Environmental management (including environmental impact assessments)
- Geotechnical studies and permitting
- Monitoring and reporting
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions assessments including emissions inventory, reduction strategies, and life cycle assessments
- Disaster recovery from tailings-related incidents
- Port recovery
- Munitions and unexploded ordinance (UXO) clearance
- Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste (HTRW) remediation
- Circularity, recycling and material recovery market assessments, and traceability design
Connect with us. Reach out to our mining and metals processing experts.
