American Rare Earths, Novex to boost US magnet production

American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR) and metallurgy firm Novex plan to develop U.S. rare earth metal production using feedstock from the Halleck Creek project in Wyoming, said to be the country’s largest deposit, to make magnets used in defence and other modern applications. 

The companies said Monday they have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance the conversion of separated rare earth oxides into metals used in permanent magnets and explore the design of a U.S. rare earth metal production plant. 

Halleck Creek is the focus of the endeavour targeting a domestic supply chain stretching from mined ore to permanent magnets. The project’s mineral resource of about 2.63 billion tonnes has the potential to supply domestic magnet metals, drawing federal and state support, including a non-binding U.S. Export-Import Bank letter of interest of up to $456 million. 

“Putting our massive Wyoming resource alongside their technical capability is an important step in developing the cornerstone of U.S. domestic rare earth and magnet production, in Wyoming,” American Rare Earths CEO Mark Wall said in a release. 

Shares in American Rare Earths gained 6% on Monday to close at A36¢ apiece in Sydney, valuing the company at A$204 million (C$201 million).

Wyoming supply 

The agreement targets one of the gaps in the U.S. rare earth supply chain: turning refined and separated oxides into metals suitable for magnet manufacturing. Developing that capability domestically could reduce reliance on overseas processing as Washington seeks to secure supplies of materials considered important for defence and advanced manufacturing. 

They aim to improve recovery, purity and product qualification of rare earth elements. In addition, they will also create a domestic production plant and a fully domestic mine-to-magnet chain.  

The partners also want to metallize neodymium-praseodymium, or NdPr, oxide and convert it to a metal product suitable as a magnet precursor and review options for American Rare Earths to produce and supply samarium, dysprosium and terbium for metallurgical testing and qualification. 

Halleck Creek hosts 1.48 billion measured and indicated tonnes grading 3,334 parts per million (ppm) (0.33%) TREO for 4.93 million tonnes of contained TREO, according to a resource issued in February 2025.

The project has 1.15 billion inferred tonnes grading 3,239 ppm (0.32%) TREO for 3.72 million tonnes of contained TREO. The combined resource totals 8.65 million tonnes of contained TREO.

Chain review

This MoU comes after an American Rare Earths oxide-to-metal review. It had found several workable metallization technologies that would help the U.S. to advance the sector. 

These routes included fluoride conversion followed by calciothermic reduction, lanthanothermic reduction for volatile metals and high-temperature molten salt electrolysis. This last one came out as the cleanest of all the methods, reducing dependence on anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and  avoids using a rare earth metal, which could otherwise be sold, as the reductant. 

China deadline 

The companies’ push comes as the U.S. seeks to lessen its dependence on China’s dominant rare earth supply chain, particularly for materials used in defence applications and data centres. 

Starting Jan. 1, U.S. defence contractors will face restrictions on delivering certain magnets containing rare earth elements mined, refined or separated in China, adding another obstacle to the sector and a need for domestic production. 

“Establishing this capability in the United States requires a secure domestic source of the right rare-earth feedstocks, and Halleck Creek provides that foundation,” Ilija (Eli) Mišković, CEO of Washington state-based Novex, said in the same release.