Cyclic to open $25M rare earths plant in Canada

Cyclic Materials, a Canadian startup backed by Amazon and Microsoft, is investing $25 million (C$34.2 million) to build a rare-earths recycling plant and research centre in Kingston, Ont., adding to the city’s existing rare earths processing facilities. 

The company has developed proprietary technology that recovers rare earth elements from discarded products such as wind turbines and data centre hard drives.

The new 13,006-sq.-metre Kingston Centre of Excellence will mark the company’s first commercial-scale “hub” processing unit, expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2026. It’s designed to process 500 tonnes of magnet-rich feedstock annually, converting it into recycled mixed rare earth oxides (rMREO). This recycled product contains critical components such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. These elements are key to manufacturing permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and consumer electronics.

“With this Centre of Excellence, we’re advancing our core mission: to secure the most critical elements of the energy transition through circular innovation,” CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said. “Kingston is where Cyclic began—and now it’s where we’re anchoring our commercial future.”

Kingston RE collaboration

Cyclic’s plant is adjacent to its existing Hub100 site, which began operations one year ago and can process up to 100 tonnes per year of magnet containing materials and produce rMREO. It’s also beside Ucore Rare Metals’ (TSXV: UCU; US-OTC: UURAF) RapidSX rare earths (RE) separation demonstration plant. The two companies last year made a non-binding memorandum of understanding to work towards a potential long-term supply agreement that could see Cyclic supply Ucore with trial amounts of rMREO. Ucore, which is building another separation plant in Louisiana, is also developing the Bokan Mountain heavy RE elements project in southeastern Alaska, for which it completed a preliminary economic assessment in 2013.

Last year, the federal government awarded Cyclic Materials C$4.9 million to help with the construction, commissioning, and early operations of the Hub100 demonstration facility.

Cyclic is also expanding internationally, with a recycling plant under construction in Mesa, Ariz., slated to open in early 2026.

Global demand for rare earths is climbing rapidly, driven by the surge in clean energy and digital technologies. China, the dominant player in the rare earth supply chain, has used its control of exports as leverage in geopolitical disputes, including in response to U.S. tariffs.

While President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday a rare earth supply deal with Beijing, the search for secure and independent sources continues.