US Provides $565 Million in Financing for Brazilian Rare Earth Project

US critical minerals processing enterprise Momentum Technologies is actively engaged in building out domestic supply chains for rare earth and battery materials, and is currently commissioning the world's first demonstration plant capable of large-scale processing of both these product categories. In September 2024, Momentum Technologies commenced operations at its demonstration plant near Dallas, Texas. Initially, the plant operated only the battery materials processing line; it has now been retrofitted to simultaneously process rare earth elements, with the rare earth processing circuit expected to be commissioned by mid-February 2026.

"The market has gone absolutely crazy." That's the shared sentiment among many executives at magnetic material and motor plants. As of February 9, 2026, the price of praseodymium-neodymium (Pr-Nd) metal has reached 975,000 - 985,000 yuan per ton, marking a single-day surge of 7%. This represents a 9.4% increase compared to last week​ and a staggering over 88% jump compared to the same period last year​

Luxembourg-based Frontier Rare Earths today announced it successfully obtained a $20 million investment from South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation (IDS) and signed an offtake agreement with France's Carester. The company has now initiated the final feasibility study for its South African magnet-use rare earth and battery-grade manganese project. Frontier Rare Earths is currently advancing the development of the Zandkopsdrift project in South Africa. The project is expected to achieve an annual capacity of approximately 3,038 mt of Pr-Nd oxide, 114 mt of dysprosium oxide, and 25 mt of terbium oxide over the first 25 years.