Rare Earth Shortage Forces US Aerospace and Semiconductor Suppliers to Reject Orders

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] USA Rare Earth announced on June 2 that it will invest $1.2 billion to build a new magnet manufacturing and rare earth metal refining plant in Cherokee County, South Carolina, located at the Bailey Industrial Park in Blacksburg. Once operational, the plant is expected to produce 6,400 mt of sintered NdFeB permanent magnets and 5,000 mt of rare earth metals and alloys annually. Combined with the expansion plan for the Stillwater plant in Oklahoma, the company's total domestic capacity will reach 10,000 mt of NdFeB magnets and 10,000 mt of rare earth metals and alloys per year. The project is the company's third plant in the US, following the separation plant in Colorado and the magnet plant in Oklahoma, and is expected to begin commissioning in 2028.

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] ASX-listed European Resources announced that multiple untested anomalies were identified south and east of the existing resource area during the Phase 2 passive seismic survey at the Korsnäs rare earth project in Finland, validating the effectiveness of the exploration technique. The new anomalies lie outside the historical gravity coverage, indicating continued along-strike extension of the southern target corridor. The company has applied for an exploration permit extension to the south, and if the 6.3 square kilometer Poikel permit is approved, the total project area will increase to 19.9 square kilometers, further enhancing the exploration potential of this key European rare earth project.

[SMM Rare Earth News Brief] Belgium's Solvay has reached a supply agreement with Australia's Viridis Mining & Minerals to receive rare earth raw materials from its Colossus ion-adsorption ore project in Brazil starting in 2028, processing them into high-purity oxides at its La Rochelle plant in France, covering key magnetic material elements including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. This move will ensure Solvay meets Europe's growing rare earth demand, helping it achieve its goal of covering 30% of European demand by 2030, while also promoting diversification of the Western rare earth supply chain.