USAR Rare Earth Separation Plant Starts Operations in Colorado

US rare earths

USAR rare earth separation capacity has taken another step forward after USA Rare Earth commissioned its hydrometallurgical demonstration plant in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The facility will produce separated heavy rare earth oxides, with initial output scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.

USAR rare earth separation will target strategically important materials including dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. These elements are critical to high-performance magnets, aerospace, defence, electronics and other advanced manufacturing applications.

USAR rare earth separation is especially significant because heavy rare earth processing remains one of the most concentrated stages of the global supply chain. Developing domestic separation capability could reduce US dependence on overseas processing.

The Wheat Ridge facility will also test multiple feedstock routes, allowing USAR to process mined material alongside recycled magnet waste.

Three Feedstocks Test a Flexible Heavy Rare Earth Supply Model

The Wheat Ridge plant is designed to process three flowsheets in parallel. These include ore from USAR's Round Top project in Texas, material from the Serra Verde Pela Ema mine in Brazil and magnet swarf from manufacturing operations.

This diversified feedstock strategy is strategically important. A separation facility capable of handling both primary resources and recycled material can reduce dependence on a single mine or supply route.

Round Top provides a potential domestic US feedstock source, while Serra Verde gives USAR exposure to Brazilian heavy rare earth resources.

Magnet swarf adds a recycling pathway. Manufacturing waste can contain valuable neodymium, dysprosium, terbium and other rare earths that can be returned to the supply chain instead of being discarded.

The combination creates the basis for a more circular rare earth system connecting mining, recycling and downstream separation.

The plant's automation and real-time process monitoring should also generate technical data required for commercial scale-up. In rare earth processing, consistent purity, recovery and process control are essential before technology can move into large-scale production.

Federal Funding Supports USAR's Integrated Rare Earth Strategy

USAR has secured access to as much as $1.6bn in US government funding, providing significant financial support for its wider rare earth strategy.

The company is attempting to build an integrated supply chain extending beyond mining into separation, metals, alloys and permanent magnets.

Its planned acquisition of Serra Verde would further strengthen that structure by adding an operating Brazilian heavy rare earth resource. The transaction remains subject to regulatory scrutiny in Brazil.

Heavy rare earths are especially important because dysprosium and terbium are used to improve the temperature resistance of NdFeB permanent magnets.

These magnets are critical to electric motors, defence systems, robotics, aerospace and other high-performance applications.

For the US, securing access to ore alone is therefore insufficient. Separation capacity is essential because mixed rare earth feedstock must be converted into individual high-purity oxides before downstream metallisation and magnet production.

The Colorado demonstration plant gives USAR an opportunity to prove that capability across several feedstock types before moving toward larger-scale production.

The Metalnomist Commentary

USAR's Colorado plant targets one of the hardest bottlenecks in the non-China rare earth chain: heavy rare earth separation. Its ability to process both mined feedstock and magnet waste could become strategically valuable if the technology proves scalable.