Well, the US hype for rare earths is showing no signs of slowing down.
Yesterday, US rare earths processing giant Vulcan Elements announced that it will build its Pentagon-backed magnet manufacturing facility in Benson, North Carolina.
As promised, the facility will have 10,000 metric tonnes of rare earth magnet manufacturing capacity and, the company says, will create 1,000 new jobs. In total, Vulcan expects to invest nearly $1B in building the plant.
“This will be the largest rare earth magnet facility in the world, outside of China, at least to my understanding,” Vulcan Co-Founder & CEO John Maslin told Tectonic.
Maslin expects the facility to kick off initial operations in 2027.
Mine all mine: It’s been quite the year for Vulcan Elements.
Back in August, the company closed a cool $65M Series A led by Altimeter. Then, earlier this month, they inked a $1.4B deal with the Pentagon, the Department of Commerce, and rare-earth purifying and refining company ReElement to scale up and vertically integrate production.
- Under the DoD deal, Vulcan received a $620M direct loan from the DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), $50M in federal incentives from the Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act, and $550M in private capital.
- The US Government received a $50M stake in the company as thanks.
- ReElement also received an $80M loan from OSC as part of their partnership with Vulcan.
- A big part of this investment was meant to go towards a new 10,000 metric ton facility—hence yesterday’s announcement.
Opposites attract: All this hype—and money—has to do with the company’s very-sought-after niche: rare earth magnets.
- These magnets—made from neodymium iron boron (NdFeB), in Vulcan’s case—are found in everything from F-35s to nuclear subs and drones because of their magnetic strength, thermal stability, and miniaturization capabilities. They basically turn electricity into motion.
- China processes upwards of 90 percent of the world’s rare earths. The US processes about 1 percent. Yes, 1 percent.
- Put together, ReElement and Vulcan basically create a closed-loop supply chain for these ultra-special magnets. ReElement processes end-of-life magnets, mined concentrates, and electronic waste into high-purity rare-earth oxides, then Vulcan reduces those oxides to manufacture the finished magnet-y product.
Among friends: Maslin said that 100 percent of their raw materials are and will remain sourced from the US and allied countries.
“We’re expanding the existing partnership with companies like ReElement technologies, [who] we’ve been working with for over a year,” he said. “We [also] have public announcements with companies like Energy Fuels, who mine material in the southeast of the United States and then separate it in Utah.”
Vulcan gets one lucky break from the composition of its magnets, which makes Maslin confident they’ll be able to secure enough raw materials to meet that 10,000 metric ton production goal.
“These are called neodymium iron boron magnets,” he added. “The rare earths only [comprise] about a third…so for every ton of rare earth I buy, I can make three tons of magnets. They’re 65% iron. I don’t need 10,000 tons of rare earths.”
Down south: Vulcan’s first plant was in North Carolina, and Maslin said that they chose to double down on the state largely because of the talent and support they’ve found there. It also helped that they found a 500,000 square foot facility permitted to build out another 600,000 square feet, all with a substation already installed.
Plus, good ol’ Carolinian political support helped them end their “rigorous, very, very long, multi-state search” in the Tar Heel State. That, plus an over $100M incentive package.
“The one thing that’s been consistent is everyone has been supportive. They want to see this succeed,” Maslin said. “We’re exceptionally grateful to all the work that they’ve done, and it’s been completely across political parties and nonpartisan.”
At least we can all still agree on something.