HyProMag USA study outlines plans for three new US rare earth magnet plants

HyProMag USA, a 50:50 joint venture of CoTec Holdings and HyProMag Limited, part of Mkango Magnetic Materials, has released an independent pre-feasibility study (PFS) of three potential new US rare earth magnet plants.

The PFS, by PegasusTSI and BBA USA, evaluates plants in South Carolina, Nevada and a second Texas location, which would also house a central manufacturing and finishing hub. Including HyProMag USA's first plant in Northlake, Texas, the four plants would produce about 4,192 metric tons of neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets per year by 2034. That is four times Northlake's planned output of about 1,048 metric tons. Northlake is in detailed engineering, and Phase 1 commissioning is expected in mid-2028.

Each new plant is intended to produce unfinished sintered NdFeB blocks using Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS). The process recovers magnet-grade material from end-of-life EV motors and other scrap without chemical processing. The hub would process NdFeB alloy by vacuum induction melting and strip-casting, and would finish the blocks through grain boundary diffusion (GBD), machining, plating and coating. The PFS estimates that GBD would raise the share of high-grade magnets from about 10% to 20% of output.

The PFS evaluates two cases: recycled feedstock only, and recycled feedstock plus primary NdFeB alloy. For the three new plants, it estimates a post-tax net present value of $2.06 billion in the recycled-only case and $1.85 billion in the recycled-and-primary case. Capital costs are estimated at about $623 million and $656 million, respectively. All-in sustaining cost at the first new plant in 2030 is estimated at $37.4 to $41.6 per kg, against a forecast average selling price of about $100.5 per kg.

"This Pre-Feasibility Study confirms the opportunity to establish a significant domestic rare earth magnet manufacturing platform in the United States," said Julian Treger, CEO of CoTec.

"The Study indicates the scalability of the HyProMag business model and provides a framework for disciplined growth in the United States using HyProMag USA's first plant in Northlake," said Will Dawes, CEO of Mkango.

"The objective of the HyProMag platform has always been to demonstrate that HPMS technology can recover rare earth magnetic materials and convert them into high-performance commercial magnet products," said Allan Walton, founder of HyProMag and Head of the Magnetic Materials Group at the University of Birmingham. "The PFS outlines a pathway to scaling that capability through an integrated manufacturing platform incorporating magnet production, finishing and product qualification."

Source: HyProMag USA