Guide

The US rare earth supply chain from mine to magnet: who does each step

The rare earth supply chain from mine to magnet has five steps: mining ore, separating it into single oxides, turning oxides into metal and alloy, making magnets, and recycling the used ones. In the US, MP Materials now covers the first four at its own sites, and most other companies cover one or two steps.

The US mined an estimated 51,000 t of rare earth oxide in concentrate in 2025 but produced only 8,900 t of compounds and metals, and its net import reliance for those was 67% (USGS). Each step below shows who does it, how much they say they can make and what is still being built.

Verified through Oct 1, 2026

See the five steps Who does each step

Steps from mine to magnet: 5Mine, separate, metal, magnet, recycle
Active primary mine: 1Mountain Pass, California
Commercial separation sites: 2Mountain Pass and White Mesa Mill
US companies profiled: 27Each placed at its step

What are the steps in the rare earth supply chain from mine to magnet?

The rare earth supply chain from mine to magnet has five steps. Miners produce a concentrate, separators turn it into single oxides, metal makers reduce the oxides to metal and alloy, magnet makers press and sinter the alloy, and recyclers return used magnets to the chain.

The chart lists every company this directory profiles at the step it works in, with a marker for the status of its lead asset. A company that works at two steps appears twice. Click a step to see every company at it.

01 Mining and development 13
Ore, concentrate and by-product streams
02 Separation and refining 6
Concentrate to separated oxides
03 Metal and alloy 6
Oxides to metals and magnet alloys
04 Magnet manufacturing 7
NdFeB and SmCo magnets
05 Recycling 4
Magnet and e-waste feedstock

Lead asset status: ProducingOther commodityDevelopmentExplorationPlant operatingPlant buildingPlant planned

Which US companies do each step, and how much can they make?

Each step has a few US operators of very different size. Mountain Pass and White Mesa Mill are the only commercial separation sites, a handful of plants make metal, five magnet plants operate, and recycling is only starting. The table gives the stated capacity and status at each step.

The US rare earth chain, step by step: operators, status and stated capacity
Step	What it does	US operators and status	Stated capacity or output
1. Mining and development	Digs ore, or recovers by-product material, and upgrades it to a mixed concentrate.	Mountain Pass: producing, the only active primary mine. Chemours supplies monazite from mineral sands in Florida and Georgia to Energy Fuels. In development: Round Top, Halleck Creek, Bear Lodge, Elk Creek and Brook Mine.	51,000 t of rare earth oxide in concentrate in 2025 (USGS estimate). Mountain Pass made 12,983 t in Q1 2026 (company-reported).
2. Separation and refining	Splits a mixed concentrate into single oxides such as NdPr, dysprosium and terbium.	Operating: MP Materials at Mountain Pass and Energy Fuels at White Mesa Mill. Building: Ucore Rare Metals (Alexandria, Louisiana) and ReElement Technologies (Marion, Indiana). Planned: Aclara Resources (Vinton, Louisiana), Lynas USA (Seadrift, Texas; uncertain) and ElementUSA (Gramercy, Louisiana).	NdPr oxide: about 3,600 t/yr of capacity at Mountain Pass and White Mesa together (OSTI). MP made 2,599 t in 2025 and Energy Fuels about 38 t of NdPr product in 2024.
3. Metal and alloy	Reduces oxides to metal and casts the alloy that magnet makers use.	MP Materials (Independence, Fort Worth: NdPr metal since Jan 2025), Phoenix Tailings (Exeter, New Hampshire), REalloys (Euclid, Ohio; company-reported), USA Rare Earth (strip casting at Stillwater; a metal plant at Blacksburg is planned) and Vulcan Elements (planned). Energy Fuels' Korean Metals Plant is outside the US.	Exeter: 500 t/yr of capacity, 200 t/yr built (company-reported). Blacksburg: 5,000 t/yr of metal and alloy planned. Korean Metals Plant: 1,300 t/yr of alloy.
4. Magnet manufacturing	Presses alloy powder in a magnetic field, sinters it and finishes the magnet.	MP Materials (Independence; the 10X campus is being built), eVAC Magnetics (Sumter, South Carolina), USA Rare Earth (Stillwater, Oklahoma; Blacksburg is being built), Noveon Magnetics (San Marcos, Texas), Vulcan Elements (Research Triangle Park; Benson planned) and Arnold Magnetic Technologies (samarium cobalt, Rochester, New York).	As stated by each company: Independence about 3,000 t/yr; Sumter about 2,000 t/yr; Stillwater 600 t/yr expected by Q4 2026; San Marcos beyond 2,000 t/yr; Vulcan about 10 t/yr today and 10,000 t/yr targeted.
5. Recycling	Recovers rare earth material from used magnets, scrap and waste.	Cyclic Materials (Mesa, Arizona), HyProMag USA (Texas; planned), Noveon Magnetics and ReElement Technologies. MP Materials has an Apple agreement for magnets made from recycled material.	Mesa: up to 25,000 t/yr of material, opened Sept 9, 2026. HyProMag USA: about 941 t/yr of magnets planned.

Capacities are what each company states, and are labeled company-reported where the profile says so. A nameplate or a target is not output. Statuses follow the directory's methodology.

A 2026 review puts China's share at more than 70% of rare earth mining and about 90% of processing. A Department of Energy assessment put China's 2020 share at 89% of separation, 90% of metal refining and 92% of sintered magnet manufacturing, when the US was separating or refining none and made under 1% of magnets.

Mining is the most spread-out step: the USGS estimates that in 2025 China mined 270,000 t of the world's 390,000 t (69%) and the US 51,000 t (13%). Each step after mining is more concentrated, which is why a US mine alone does not give a US supply chain.

China's share at each step (Department of Energy estimates for 2020) and what the US has added since
Step	China's share, 2020	US share, 2020	What has changed in the US since
Mining	58%	16%	The USGS puts 2025 at 69% for China and 13% for the US, with Mountain Pass the only active primary mine. MP Materials stopped selling concentrate to China in Jul 2025.
Separation	89%	None	MP Materials separates part of its own concentrate (more than 40% in 2024, per OSTI) and Energy Fuels began NdPr separation at White Mesa in 2024. Heavy rare earth circuits are being built.
Metal refining	90%	None	The DOE found no US metal refining in 2022. MP began making NdPr metal at Independence in Jan 2025, and Phoenix Tailings runs a 200 t/yr plant in New Hampshire (company-reported).
Sintered magnets	92%	Under 1%	Independence made its first magnets on commercial equipment in Dec 2025, eVAC Magnetics began commercial production in Sumter in fall 2025 and Stillwater commissioned its first phase in Mar 2026.

Shares for 2020 are the DOE's estimates, published in Feb 2022, and are shown for the step-by-step picture, not as current figures. Current detail is in the guide to why the US cannot process most of its own rare earths.

Which US companies cover more than one step of the chain?

Seven profiled companies work at two or more steps. MP Materials covers four, USA Rare Earth three, and Energy Fuels, Vulcan Elements, Noveon, ReElement and HyProMag USA two each. Partnerships, such as Vulcan Elements buying oxides from ReElement, link steps across companies.

Covering several steps matters because each step needs the one before it. The Department of Energy's cost analysis found that a metal maker is unlikely to succeed buying oxide and selling metal on the open market, but may succeed if it also makes its own oxide and magnets, or has local suppliers and buyers.

Profiled companies that work at more than one step (from the directory registry)
Company	Mining	Separation	Metal and alloy	Magnets	Recycling
MP Materials	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
USA Rare Earth	Yes Round Top, in development	No	Yes	Yes	No
Energy Fuels	No	Yes	Yes in South Korea	No	No
Vulcan Elements	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Noveon Magnetics	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
ReElement Technologies	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
HyProMag USA	No	No	No	Yes	Yes

Energy Fuels has agreed to buy Vacuumschmelze, owner of eVAC Magnetics, which would add magnets; the deal had not closed at the date of this guide. USA Rare Earth also owns the Serra Verde mine in Brazil. See the ownership map.

How do tonnes of ore, oxide, metal and magnets compare?

Tonnes at different steps are not comparable. A sintered magnet is about 30% rare earth by weight, and OSTI's figures imply about 0.32 t of NdPr oxide for each tonne of magnet, so 10,000 t/yr of magnet capacity needs roughly 3,200 t/yr of NdPr oxide. Mine tonnes overstate the useful material.

Rules of thumb for reading capacity figures

Ore to concentrate About 7 t of concentrate per 100 t of Mountain Pass ore Mountain Pass reserves average 5.89% TREO and the plant makes a concentrate of about 60% TREO, a mass yield of about 6.8% in the company's reserve model (SEC 10-K for 2025).
Concentrate to NdPr About 16% of the concentrate is NdPr In the same model the concentrate is 15.7% NdPr, 32.3% lanthanum, 50.2% cerium and 1.8% samarium, europium and gadolinium. Most of what is mined is not magnet material.
Oxide to metal 1.18 kg of NdPr oxide for 1 kg of NdPr metal The Department of Energy used this ratio when it compared oxide and metal prices for 2019.
Metal to magnet About 0.32 t of NdPr oxide per tonne of magnet Derived from OSTI: 38,700 t of magnets by 2030 corresponds to about 12,500 t of NdPr oxide, assuming 25% NdPr in the magnet and about 10% loss. DOE: a sintered magnet is roughly 30% rare earth, 69% iron and 1% boron.

Where is the US chain working, thin or missing?

The US chain has a mine and two separation sites for light rare earths, a thin set of metal plants and magnet plants that mostly publish targets rather than output. The largest gaps are heavy rare earth separation at scale, metal and alloy capacity, and volumes of magnets and recycled material.

Working Light rare earth mining and separation Mountain Pass and White Mesa Mill make separated NdPr oxide, with about 3,600 t/yr of capacity between them (OSTI).
Thin Metal and alloy NdPr metal has been made at Independence since Jan 2025 and a 500 t/yr plant exists at Exeter (company-reported). The DOE found no US metal refining in 2022.
Thin Magnets Five sintered magnet plants are listed as operating (Independence, Sumter, Stillwater, San Marcos and Vulcan's small Research Triangle Park line), but most publish nameplate or target figures, not output.
Missing Heavy rare earths at scale Dysprosium and terbium oxides have been made at pilot scale; commercial output is targeted from late 2026 to 2027 and later (company statements).
Missing Large-scale recycling Cyclic Materials opened its Mesa plant on Sept 9, 2026 with capacity for 25,000 t/yr of material; recovered output is not yet published.

Where can I see each step in detail?

The sub-hub pages list every company at a step, the map shows where each plant is and the guides explain how each step works.

Rare earth mines in the USEvery US mine and project, with its status
Rare earth companies in the USMiners, refiners, magnet makers and recyclers
Separation and refining companiesThe second step in detail
Magnet manufacturersThe fourth step in detail
Deposits and plants mapWhere each mine and plant is
Ownership mapWho owns what along the chain
Government support trackerFederal money behind each step
Why the US cannot process rare earthsWhy the middle of the chain is thin

Questions about the rare earth supply chain

What is the rare earth supply chain?

It is the path from ore to a finished magnet: mining and concentrating, separating single oxides, making metal and alloy, making magnets, and recycling. Each step needs the output of the one before, and each uses different chemistry and equipment.

Which US company covers the most steps of the chain?

MP Materials. It mines and separates rare earths at Mountain Pass, California, and makes NdPr metal, alloy and magnets at Independence in Fort Worth, Texas. OSTI described its Texas site as potentially the only US project operating from mine to magnet.

Does the US mine rare earths?

Yes. The USGS estimates 51,000 t of rare earth oxide in concentrate in 2025, almost all from Mountain Pass, the only active primary mine. Monazite from mineral sands in the southeast is a by-product that Energy Fuels processes in Utah.

Where are US-mined rare earths processed?

Commercial separation happens at Mountain Pass and at White Mesa Mill in Utah. Until 2025 MP Materials sold the concentrate it did not separate itself, mostly through a distributor to refiners in China, and it stopped sales to China in Jul 2025.

What is the difference between rare earth oxide, metal and magnets?

Oxides are the separated compounds, such as NdPr oxide. Metal is made by reducing oxide, and a magnet alloy mixes it with iron and boron. A sintered magnet is pressed from that alloy as a powder and is about 30% rare earth by weight.

Who is building the missing steps?

Ucore, ReElement and Aclara are building or planning separation; Phoenix Tailings, REalloys and USA Rare Earth are building metal and alloy capacity; and Vulcan Elements, USA Rare Earth and MP Materials are building magnet plants. Cyclic Materials leads in recycling.

Sources and verification

Each profile lists its sources, a confidence grade and a verification date. Order of authority: official records (SEC filings, agency documents), company documents and technical reports, research papers, then independent press. Syndicated copies and reference works are labeled and are never the only source for a number. Company-reported figures are labeled as such, and non-binding deals are labeled "letter of intent" or "conditional".

OSTI review, Minerals Engineering 249 (Kashyap et al., 2026) Research paper
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 Official record
Department of Energy: Rare Earth Permanent Magnets, Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment (Feb 2022) Official record
MP Materials 10-K for 2025 (SEC) Official record
Energy Fuels 10-K for 2025 (SEC) Official record
USA Rare Earth Q2 2026 results (SEC) Official record
VAC: opening ceremony for Sumter (Jul 2026) Company document
Fortune: Phoenix Tailings rare earth refinery in New Hampshire (Aug 2026) Independent press
Cyclic Materials: opens the first commercial-scale automated rare earth magnet recovery facility in the US (Sept 2026) Company document
Mkango: HyProMag USA provides a positive update to valuation Company document

Tags show what kind of source each link is. How sources are ranked

Guides

Which other guides are there?

Ten guides explain each step from mine to magnet, why the US is behind and how to read the technical reports behind each project in this directory.