U.S. Mined and Processed Rare Earths Manufactured into Permanent Magnets for EVs and Hybrids
For years, America’s EV industry has faced a bottleneck that has little to do with car design and everything to do with supply chains. China’s domination of electric vehicle battery production and rare earth magnets has created a strategic vulnerability, leaving automakers dependent on overseas sources for critical materials. This week, however, marked a major breakthrough on U.S. soil.
On September 9, 2025, Energy Fuels Inc. announced that its high-purity neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, produced at its White Mesa Mill in Utah, has successfully been manufactured into commercial-scale rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs) by South Korea’s largest drive unit motor core manufacturer. The magnets passed all quality assurance and quality control benchmarks required for use in EV drive unit motors sold to leading automakers.
This milestone was not theoretical. The 1.2 metric tonnes of NdPr oxide supplied earlier this year were processed into roughly 3.0 metric tonnes of REPMs, enough to power around 1,500 new electric and hybrid vehicles. Energy Fuels even received 25 kilograms of the finished sintered block alloys back, a tangible proof of concept that the U.S. can carve out a role in the global rare earth supply chain.
“We are excited to announce that rare earth oxides mined, processed and produced in America are expected to be powering EVs and hybrids for sale around the world very soon, representing a major achievement in restoring domestic critical mineral supply chains” said Mark S. Chalmers, CEO of Energy Fuels. “Commercial validation of our rare earth oxides at scale is a significant triumph for Energy Fuels, proving we have the capacity and expertise to produce rare earth materials that meet both commercial and defense requirements, at scale and to appropriate purity and performance specifications. Energy Fuels also recently announced that we are producing pilot quantities of 99.9% purity dysprosium oxide, a critical ‘heavy’ rare earth and another key ingredient in NdFeB magnets. We plan to construct ‘heavy’ rare earth oxide capacity in 2026 at our White Mesa Mill in Utah, thereby ‘closing the loop’ on this important non-China supply chain.”
What makes the achievement even more significant is its origin. The rare earth oxides were derived from monazite concentrates mined in Florida and Georgia at Chemours’ heavy mineral sand operations. These concentrates were shipped to Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill, the only facility in North America licensed to process monazite into high-purity rare earth oxides.
Energy Fuels has long been known as America’s leading uranium producer, but the company is rapidly becoming a cornerstone in the broader critical minerals sector. Alongside uranium and vanadium, it is scaling up rare earth elements, heavy mineral sands, and even medical isotopes. With projects underway to expand supply of titanium, zirconium, and monazite feedstock, Energy Fuels is positioning itself as a key link in building a resilient domestic supply chain for EVs and clean energy technologies.
For the U.S., this development signals progress toward reducing reliance on Chinese rare earths and creating a secure foundation for EV battery and motor production. The road to reshoring is long, but milestones like this show it is possible.
