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USA Rare Earth
USA Rare Earth was formally established in 2019 to secure a critical gap in the American defense and industrial supply chain—the processing and permanent...
USA Rare Earth
USA Rare Earth was formally established in 2019 to secure a critical gap in the American defense and industrial supply chain—the processing and permanent magnet manufacturing for rare earth elements essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines, and precision-guided munitions. The firm acquired the Round Top Mountain mine project in Hudspeth County, Texas, a significant deposit of heavy rare earths, lithium, and other tech-critical minerals. Tom Schneberger, a chemical engineer and former FMC Lithium executive, joined as CEO to steer the company's transition from a junior mining exploration play into an active processing and manufacturing enterprise. The company's strategy integrates mining, separation, and downstream magnet production—a vertically integrated model rare for US firms. In April 2023, USA Rare Earth commissioned a rare earth separation facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, built with support from a Department of Defense grant. That facility processes feedstock from Round Top and other sources into individual rare earth oxides. The firm then feeds those oxides into its Stillwater, Oklahoma magnet manufacturing plant, which broke ground in 2022, targeting production of neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets. Syncrude Canada and other suppliers serve as interim feedstock while Round Top's permitting advances. The geographic focus ties Texas mine feedstock to Colorado processing and Oklahoma manufacturing, creating a domestic rare earth spine. The firm is private and does not disclose assets under management. It has raised tens of millions from private investors and secured government grants and offtake agreements, including a supply chain partnership with GE Vernova's power-conversion unit announced in 2025, aiming to produce magnets for motors and generators inside the United States. USA Rare Earth operates a wholly owned subsidiary focused on rare earth magnet recycling, though scale remains modest. In early 2025, the firm began discussions with the US International Development Finance Corporation around potential multi-hundred-million-dollar financing to accelerate domestic magnet production. USA Rare Earth's structural differentiator is its position as the only US-incorporated company to control a heavy rare earth deposit, operate its own separation plant, and commission a purpose-built magnet factory in sequence. This provides a political and procurement hedge: federal policy—starting with the Defense Production Act and continuing through the Inflation Reduction Act—explicitly favors domestic rare earth processors capable of securing magnet supply chains without relying on Chinese separation or alloying. The Top-Trump tandem of resource ownership and manufacturing capacity insulates the company from price spikes driven by Chinese export controls, a recurring threat Beijing has wielded several times since 2019.
General information
Firm type
Unclassified
Year founded
2019
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Austin
Corporate office
Austin, TX, United States
Principals
Tom Schneberger
Vice Chairman and CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What does USA Rare Earth actually own?
The company owns the Round Top Mountain rare earth and critical minerals project in Hudspeth County, Texas. Round Top holds a significant deposit of heavy rare earths, lithium, and gallium. USA Rare Earth also owns and operates a rare earth separation facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and a magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, making it the only US firm with vertically integrated mining, processing, and magnet production assets. The mine is in the permitting stage; the processing and manufacturing facilities are operational.
Who runs investment decisions at USA Rare Earth?
Tom Schneberger, the Vice Chairman and CEO, directs the firm's strategic and investment decisions. Schneberger brings a chemical engineering background and two decades of experience in lithium and specialty chemicals production, most recently at FMC Lithium, where he managed global operations. The board includes representatives from early backers and government-linked advisory groups tied to critical minerals security.
How does USA Rare Earth source its raw material before Round Top is permitted?
Before the Round Top mine reaches commercial production, the separation plant in Colorado processes rare earth concentrate purchased from third-party suppliers, including Syncrude Canada's tailings operation. This approach lets the firm demonstrate processing capability and generate early revenue while the Texas mine moves through permitting and construction. Once Round Top is online, it will become the primary feedstock for the Colorado and Oklahoma facilities.
Is USA Rare Earth a mining company or a manufacturing firm?
It operates as both—a rare structure in the rare earth space. The firm controls the mine, owns the separation plant where raw ore becomes salable oxides, and runs the magnet factory where oxides become finished products. This vertical integration is deliberate: it insulates the company from Chinese pricing power and Export Control Law restrictions, which typically disrupt firms that only mine, only separate, or only manufacture.
What role does government funding play at USA Rare Earth?
Significant. The Department of Defense has funded the Colorado separation plant's commissioning through its Defense Production Act portfolio. The Inflation Reduction Act's 45X tax credit for advanced manufacturing applies to its magnet production. In early 2025, the US International Development Finance Corporation began evaluating a multi-hundred-million-dollar financing package to expand magnet output. These government ties reflect a national security posture: the Pentagon views domestic magnet supply as a warfighting requirement.
Who buys USA Rare Earth's magnets?
The firm's announced customers and partners include GE Vernova, whose power-conversion unit signed a supply agreement in 2025 for magnets destined to electric motors and generators. The company also targets the defense industrial base—precision-guided munitions rely on rare earth permanent magnets—and the electric vehicle sector, though specific automotive offtake agreements have not been publicly named as of mid-2025.
How does China's export control posture affect USA Rare Earth?
China's periodic threats to restrict rare earth exports—most publicly in 2019 and again in mid-2025—directly strengthen the strategic rationale for investing in USA Rare Earth's domestic capacity. Because the firm controls a US-based separation plant and magnet factory, it can produce magnets without any Chinese processing step, a capability no other US firm currently matches. This makes it an explicit hedge: when Chinese restrictions tighten, the firm's offtake value rises.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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