Our resources

Two and a half centuries of scientific research and industrial experience

The company is committed to maintaining, perpetuating and continuously improving its unique expertise, while making the environment a top priority.

Human resources

Carester channels the expertise of its team and the ingenuity of its new talents to chart unexplored horizons and promote a more responsible approach to rare-earth refining.

Carester’s staff includes world-renowned experts in liquid-liquid extraction processes, a proven method for separating rare earths. Carester’s expertise also extends to hydrometallurgical treatment processes, with a particular focus on removing radioactivity from mineral concentrates.

In recent years, Carester’s specialists have also developed a unique process for recycling rare-earth elements contained in permanent magnets.

Laboratories

Carester's expertise combines skilled staff and state-of-the-art laboratories to design streamlined processes with low environmental impact.

Analysis laboratory

Chemical characterization and analyses

Accurate characterization is essential for designing reliable processes and extracting high-quality rare earths. Carester’s analytical capabilities include:

Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES)
Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF)
UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
Microwave Digestion System
Digital Density Meter
And more.

Process laboratory

Process design and development

A combination of pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and liquid-liquid extraction tools to cover the entire rare-earth extraction process:

Muffle furnace
Batch reactors
Liquid-liquid extraction mixer-settler batteries
Centrifugeuse
Broyeur à billes
Sieve shaker
And more.

Pilot testing

Validating process design hypotheses through pilot testing

An essential step in consolidating baseline data and validating process performance on real flows.

Liquid-liquid extraction mixer-settler batteries processing up to 1 L/h
Mixer-settler handling up to 150 L to validate hydrodynamics
Skid dedicated to radioactivity treatment processing up to 30 L/h
Instrumentation and online analysis

Dismantling Development Center

Dismantling: a key step in recycling

The Dismantling Development Center in Vénissieux, France is engineering innovative solutions to enable the extraction and demagnetization of magnets contained in end-of-life equipment. Currently, this sector is non-existent and needs to be scaled up to an industrial level to supply the Caremag plant and meet future targets. In just three years, nearly 4,000 pieces of equipment have been dismantled, creating a unique database in the process.