Pentagon Commits US$500 Million to Build US Rare Earth Refining Plant
The US Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital has issued a US$500 million conditional loan commitment to Phoenix Tailings, anchoring a US$1 billion public-private initiative to build a domestic rare earth separation and metallization plant.
Dubbed the “Freedom Facility”, the project aims to close a midstream bottleneck in the supply chain for permanent magnets, defense systems, and advanced manufacturing.
The joint funding combination pairs the US$500 million in long-term government debt financing with private capital, with initial operations targeted for 2028.
Phoenix Tailings, which currently operates processing facilities in Burlington, Massachusetts, and Exeter, New Hampshire, specializes in rare earth midstream processing.
This segment connects feedstock producers, such as mines and recyclers, with downstream magnet manufacturers and industrial end-users.
“Supporting domestic processing for critical minerals and rare earths is a key focus for OSC, and the rare earth midstream processing capabilities that Phoenix Tailings represents are key shortage areas that need to be rapidly addressed,” said David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg.
The proposed Freedom Facility is designed to handle multiple feedstock varieties, including chemical concentrates, recycled materials, and secondary sources.
Company executives stated the plant will utilize domestically controlled technology and intellectual property to limit exposure to foreign entities.
Defense administrations have increasingly prioritized reshoring critical metal capabilities to shield the domestic industrial base from trade disruptions.
“This mission is bigger than any one company. It is about strengthening American industry, securing critical supply chains, and ensuring our nation has the resources it needs to thrive,” said Phoenix CEO and co-Founder Nicholas Myers in a company press release.
In this episode of the Investing News Network podcast Katie Durham, CEO and co-founder of Supra Elemental Recovery, discusses her company’s technology for recovering high-purity critical minerals from domestic waste streams using a non-toxic, reusable extraction process.
G7 pledge targets supply chokeholds
At the recently held Group of Seven (G7) summit in France, the US and its allies issued a joint declaration pledging to ensure that no single external nation can supply more than 60 percent of rare earth and permanent magnet imports by 2030.
The leaders of the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy stated their ambition to lower that threshold to 50 percent “as soon as possible”.
China currently commands nearly 70 percent of global rare earth production and 95 percent of permanent magnet manufacturing. A United Nations (UN) trade report published in June noted that the US, Japan, and the EU together import more than half of the world’s…
Read More: Pentagon Commits US$500 Million to Build US Rare Earth Refining Plant