SMM Rare Earth Afternoon Trading Comment on September 23

【SMM Rare Earth Flash】 A U.S. District Court judge has issued a preliminary injunction ordering Dateline Resources to halt operations at its Colosseum gold-rare earth project within California's Mojave National Preserve. The court ruled that the National Park Service's 2025 approval decision "violated the law," requiring the company to obtain updated approval to continue operating. Dateline has 10 weeks to secure the site and demobilize equipment and personnel. Managing Director Stephen Baghdadi expressed deep disappointment and said the company is considering appeal or compensation options. The project, adjacent to MP Materials' Mountain Pass mine, holds both gold resources and rare earth exploration potential and was previously deemed important for national security and economic development.

【SMM Rare Earth Flash】 Toronto-based Neo Performance Materials announced that commercial production has commenced at its Estonia magnet plant, with first products delivered to an EV traction motor customer. The plant, commissioned in September 2025, has a capacity of 2,000 t/y, with Phase 2 planned to expand to about 5,000 t/y. Long term, Neo targets 20,000 t/y of permanent magnets globally, covering an estimated 10-15% of demand outside China. Its current customers are Tier 1 motor manufacturers, with plans to expand into industrial, robotics, and clean energy applications. On September 2, Neo signed an offtake agreement with France's Carester, which will supply separated dysprosium and terbium oxides and other raw materials, strengthening Europe's non-China rare earth magnet supply chain.

【SMM Rare Earth Flash】 A national key R&D project on high-efficiency regeneration of high-performance rare earth magnets from waste sintered NdFeB, led by Wuhan Fisher Motion Control Systems (a subsidiary of Ningbo Fisher Technology) with Beijing University of Technology, has passed comprehensive performance evaluation by China's Administrative Center for Agenda 21. The team developed commercial-grade recycled magnets produced entirely from NdFeB waste, achieving performance comparable to high-end commercial products. Recycled magnets completed installation and long-term reliability testing in humanoid robot joint motors, establishing a complete pathway from waste recycling to magnet regeneration to high-end motor integration. The achievement marks Fisher Technology's vertical integration from downstream electric drive equipment into upstream permanent magnet materials.