USA Rare Earths Launches Hydrometallurgical Facility in Colorado, Targets 2026 Oxide Production

Published: Jun 17, 2026 16:30

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[SMM Rare Earth News] USA Rare Earths (USAR) announced that its hydrometallurgical demonstration facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, has officially begun operations. The facility targets production of its first separated oxides in Q3 2026, at which point it will become one of the few Western enterprises capable of commercially supplying strategic heavy rare earth oxides such as dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium. The plant features a fully automated design and is equipped with multi-stage solvent extraction circuits and a real-time monitoring system. Its demonstration project will validate the processing flows for three raw materials in phases and in parallel: ore from the Round Top project in Texas, third-party mixed rare earth carbonates (including feedstock from Serra Verde), and the recycling of NdFeB magnet grinding scrap. This start-up marks a key step for USAR in building a complete rare earth value chain encompassing mining, processing, metals, and magnet manufacturing.

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