Trump administration announced a $1.6 billion deal with USA Rare Earth for development of mines, magnet production, and enhanced rare earths processing techniques.
Posted by Leslie Eastman
Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, the administration has been aggressively pursuing the development of new mines for critical minerals and rare earths, wherever they can be found (and, in particular, if the source is American or a relatively trusted ally).
This move is directly tied to China’s efforts to weaponize its supply chain through tariffs and export controls.
Thes new or returning operations include those of the Mountain Pass mine in California, which is funded via a public‑private partnership with the Department of Defense that has $400 million equity stake. There are other operations in Utah that have received federal approval, and a new mining road in Alaska is now permitted to enable the successful extraction of resources for American use.
Significant progress has been made in building an American supply chain our nation can rely on to produce equipment for defense, communications, and other high-tech applications. For example, we now have the start of a USA-made supply chain for lithium batteries.
The Trump administration isn’t slowing down, either. It hassigned a non‑binding agreement to support USA Rare Earth Inc. (USAR) with up to $277 million in direct federal funding and up to $1.3 billion in loans, aimed at building a domestic “mine‑to‑magnet” rare earths and permanent magnet supply chain in this country.
The deal adds to the administration’s growing portfolio of equity stakes in private companies, and it would help expand domestic production of a critical input for cars, robots, semiconductors, drones and other products. China, which dominates the production of rare earth minerals and magnets, began clamping down on its export last year, and companies have struggled to find other sources of supply.
The Commerce Department, which arranged the financing through a semiconductor investment program set up during the Biden administration, said it had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to provide the funding, subject to further due diligence and approvals. The deal will give the Commerce Department approximately 16 million shares in the company, as well as a warrant to acquire another 17.6 million shares, the department said.
Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, said in a statement that the company’s project was essential to “restoring U.S. critical mineral independence.” The investment “ensures our supply chains are resilient and no longer reliant on foreign nations,” he said.
$USAR USA Rare Earth
The United States acquired 10% of $USAR over this past weekend, for $1.5 billion.
CHIPS Act money is now an “input.” The letter of intent ties rare earths/metals into semiconductor supply chains (and the govt takes equity + warrants). pic.twitter.com/lPlACAuizN
— Michael, CPA (@MacGillivrayCPA) January 26, 2026
This investment has a different focus from the Mountain Pass Mine in California. The Texas deposits being eyed contain heavier rare-earth elements used in magnets.
USAR doesn’t produce much yet either, but it’s on the cusp of doing so. Its Round Top rare earths mining and processing project in West Texas is slated to open by the end of 2028—two years earlier than prior projections—and its high-powered magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater, Okla., is slated to open by the end of this spring.
Last year, USAR bought U.K.-based Less Common Metals, giving the company a processing and metal-making hub in the U.K. with a new facility beginning construction soon in France.
The goal for USAR is to become the only domestic mine-to-magnet manufacturer specializing in the rarer heavy rare earths, especially the dysprosium and terbium metals that are key to high-powered magnets. While rare earths are not, in fact, rare, it is harder to find them in high enough concentrations to economically mine and process them. The heavier rare earths are even more difficult to extract in large enough amounts.
MP Materials is currently the nation’s only mine-to-magnet manufacturer, but MP specializes in mining the lighter rare earths at its Mountain Pass hub in California.
The funding for this venture is also being directed toward developing American magnet production capabilities at a facility in Oklahoma and to research to enhance processing techniques at a laboratory in Colorado.
Commerce said USAR’s mine in Round Top, Texas, will extract 40,000 metric tons per day of rare earth and critical mineral feedstock. It is expected to begin commercial production in 2028.
USAR’s advanced manufacturing project in Stillwater, Okla., will increase its production capacity of NdFeB magnets to 10,000 metric tons per annum – doubling the previously planned capacity.
In addition to the proposed funding, the Commerce Department said it will receive about 16.1 million USAR shares and a warrant for another 17.6 million shares.
Separately, the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory also signed an LOI to collaborate with USAR to advance heavy rare earth element separation technologies. That work will take place at USAR’s Wheat Ridge, Colo., lab and its Round Top deposit, and it will leverage digital twin technology.
Beijing believed it could choke off America’s future by squeezing our rare earth supply chain. Instead, it lit a fire under a Trump, who has a history of building things…. this time, the construction being related to mines and supply chains. In the years ahead, as Chinese exports shrink and their leverage evaporates, it won’t be Washington begging for materials; it will be Chinese officials regretting that they weaponized them against their former best customer.
The White House now owns a stake in:
– USA Rare Earth $USAR
– Intel $INTC
– MP Materials $MP
– Lithium Americas $LAC
– Trilogy Metals $TMQ
– Vulcan Elements $VMC
– US Steel (acquired)Unreal. pic.twitter.com/CMBWx21sjK
— Stocks & Income (@stocksandincome) January 26, 2026
