Supply agreement signed with USA Rare Earth. Alloys will be manufactured in South Korea.
Mining company Australian Strategic Metals (ASM) plans to supply rare earth alloys to magnet producer USA Rare Earth (USARE) starting in 2024. According to a press release (PDF), a five-year delivery agreement has been signed for neodymium-iron-boron alloys, manufactured at ASM’s plant located in South Korea. Further processing into rare earth magnets by USARE will then take place in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
The cooperation with ASM will secure the majority of the metal and alloy requirements until the US company can use raw materials from its own mine. USARE owns the Round Top Mountain deposit in Texas, which is estimated to contain large quantities of heavy rare earths.
Tom Schneberger, CEO of USA Rare Earth, emphasized that the agreement ensures a supply of rare earths without China being involved. The People’s Republic is the world leader in mining and processing these critical raw materials; the U.S. is seeking to diversify its supply chains due to geopolitical tensions.
As we reported, ASM recently signed a rare earth alloy supply agreement with another US magnet manufacturer, Noveon Magnetics. The Australian company is also involved in building a rare earths value chain in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian country has the largest estimated rare earth deposits after China and wants to massively ramp up production.
Photo: iStock/xiao zhou
