US heavy rare earths magnet startup REalloys said on Monday it would partner with the Saskatchewan Research Council, the Canadian province’s technology innovation unit, on an expansion of a heavy rare earths processing plant due to start operating in early 2027.
REalloys will invest about $21 million in the facility to expand production of heavy rare earths, in return for a long-term offtake agreement of 80% of annual production, it said.
The announcement comes as the US government seeks to develop an alternative supply pipeline for the specialized materials, used in magnets for industries like wind power and defence, to diversify risk away from top producer China.
Ohio-based REalloys, which was formed in 2023, plans to process rare earths in Saskatchewan into metal from either mined ore or recycled electronics. It signed an agreement earlier this year to source ore from a Greenland project that Critical Metals Corp aims to develop.
The Saskatchewan facility will initially produce up to 30 metric tons of dysprosium oxide, 15 tons of terbium oxide and 400 tons of neodymium and praseodymium metal (NdPr) annually, which will increase to 600 tons per year after the expansion is complete.
REalloys, which is developing a mine in Saskatchewan to support the magnet rare earths supply chain, in September received a letter of interest from the US Export-Import Bank for a loan worth up to $200 million to fund processing and magnet facilities.
(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Jamie Freed)
