Dysprosium is a key ingredient in rare earth magnets to enhance strength and high-temperature resistance.
USA Rare Earth has successfully produced a high-purity sample of dysprosium oxide using feedstock sourced from its Texas Round Top mine project, the company announced Tuesday. It added that a proprietary extraction and purification method was used, marking a crucial step toward fully unlocking the deposit’s potential. Currently, there is only one mine operating in the U.S., the Mountain Pass mine in California, operated by MP Materials. However, while the company extracts rare earth concentrate, the material is mostly shipped to China. The Las Vegas-based company also aims to enter the magnet market, having recently begun rare earth metal production at its new magnet facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
USA Rare Earth also aims to create a vertically integrated mine-to-magnet supply chain of rare earths. Earlier this month, the company announced the successful production of its first batch of sintered permanent rare earth magnets in its facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2022, the company first announced plans to build the facility (we reported).
However, the rare earth value chain is complex, with multiple steps between mining raw materials and producing finished magnets. Below, we outline these stages. Until USA Rare Earth can fully source materials from its own deposit, Australian Strategic Metals will provide rare earth metals and alloys to its magnet facility. The two companies signed a supply agreement in 2023 (we reported).
simplified rare earth mine-to-magnet value chain
Photo: iStock/carcar797