USA Rare Earth to Invest $100+ Million in Rare Earths and Magnets Facility

Earlier this month, USA Rare Earth LLC (USARE) announced that it will develop a U.S. rare earths and magnets production facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. McAfee & Taft was pleased to serve as legal counsel to USARE in its acquisition and development of the nation's first rare earth metals and sintered magnet production facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The Florida-based company, which controls and owns the Round Top heavy rare earth, lithium, and critical minerals project in Hudspeth County, Texas, plans to invest more than $100 million in the facility. Once fully operational, the manufacturing facility will convert rare minerals such as lithium and beryllium into metals, magnets, and other specialty components for sophisticated electronics, including those that fuel electric vehicles, green energy, consumer electronics, and the defense industry.

Production is expected to begin in 2023, and the plant is expected to employ more than 100 people. Thayer Smith, president of USA Rare Earth, said, "Currently, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and most developed countries rely primarily on China for the production of critical rare earth elements, and our goal with this project is to advance U.S. rare earth manufacturing capabilities by establishing the first vertically integrated domestic rare earth element supply chain, and we are excited to be working in Oklahoma."

McAfee & Taft real estate attorneys Joe Lewallen (lead), Simon Bright and Cole Marshall, tax and economic development attorney Tony Mastin, and environmental attorney Garry Keele represented American Rare Earth in the acquisition of a 300,000 square-foot industrial property in Stillwater.

Rare earths and magnets are critical to the electric vehicle, green energy, consumer electronics, and defense industries. U.S. Rare Earth owns an 80 percent interest in the Round Top Heavy heavy rare earth, lithium and critical minerals project located in Hudspeth County, West Texas. With the development of the first rare earth and critical minerals processing facility in the United States, USA Rare Earth is expected to become the first vertically integrated domestic supplier of critical materials to power the green technology revolution.

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