USA Rare Earth announced plans to invest $100M in an integrated rare earth metal and sintered neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) manufacturing facility at Stillwater, Oklahoma. Initial production is expected to commence in 2023.

USA Rare Earth, one of several companies with rare earth projects in the USA, is showcasing a portfolio for a mine-to-magnet US supply chain. The company owns 80% of the Round Top rare earth (REE) deposit in Hudspeth County, Texas, and in 2020, acquired a NdFeB permanent magnet manufacturing system. Also in the company's portfolio is a separation facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado that is planned to process Round Top and third-party feedstock. But is that enough? Just picking at one aspect, heavy REEs account for 70% of the total REEs contained at Round Top and are hosted largely in minerals not currently processed for REEs, such as yttrofluorite and yttrocerite. Building an independent rare earth supply chain will require several factors to align to realise a unique match of assets and downstream investments.

But there is growing political interest and projects are racing to get a piece of the pie. Rare earths are in the spotlight of government critical raw material studies with regards to their supply reliance on China and the use of rare earths and rare earth magnets in military applications. Globally, NdFeB magnets are getting attention for their role in electrification technologies, especially EVs and wind turbines, which are expected to see significant growth as net-zero plans are rolled out and enforced. This will put pressure on the already strained neodymium (the “Nd” in the magnet) supply chain, revving up the supply risk reality for the relative niche military application. Project Blue’s 2022 Critical Material Risk Index places rare earths in the top five of the most at-risk critical raw materials.