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9h ago

U.S. Backs Vulcan Elements With Equity Stake and Proposed Pentagon Loans to Onshore Rare‑Earth Magnet Production

The move targets supply chain security by building U.S. production at industrial scale.

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An employee walks through the processing facility at the Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials, in Mountain Pass, California, U.S., on Friday, June 7, 2019. America's only rare earths producer, MP Materials, has been shipping all its output from the Mountain Pass mine in California to China because there is currently no refining capacity available to handle its production anywhere else in the world, its biggest shareholder said last month. Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Overview

  • Commerce announced a preliminary agreement for a $50 million equity stake in RTP-based Vulcan Elements to expand NdFeB magnet manufacturing to as much as 10,000 metric tons over the next several years.
  • Vulcan says the expansion would be financed by a proposed $620 million direct loan from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, $50 million in CHIPS Act incentives, and $550 million in private capital.
  • Indiana-based ReElement Technologies would expand recycling and processing with a proposed $80 million Office of Strategic Capital direct loan matched by private funds.
  • Officials and company statements frame the effort as strengthening domestic supplies of magnets used in EVs, wind turbines, medical devices, semiconductor tools, satellites, fighter jets, and nuclear submarines.
  • Vulcan and ReElement say they are working with federal agencies to complete due diligence and finalize terms, and Vulcan reports it has already delivered magnets to defense and technology customers.