HOUSTON, August 28th (Argus) - Rare earth recycling company Cycle Materials has raised $75 million in strategic financing to accelerate the construction of its recycling plant in McBee, South Carolina. This financing has brought the company's total equity to $237 million.
Electronic recycling company ERI signed a raw material partnership with Cyclic in July and joined as a new strategic investor. Other supporters include Microsoft, Amazon, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Hitachi.
The funds will provide funds for the pioneering work of the South Carolina project in the fourth quarter and expand the central radiating network.
The $82 million McBee plant will handle 2,000 metric tons per year of magnet materials, increasing to 6,000 tons per year, with a mixed rare earth oxide (MREO) output of 600 tons per year, and then reaching 1,800 tons per year, and is planned to be put into operation in 2028.
The factory in Mesa, Arizona will start construction in the third quarter and can handle up to 25,000 tons of scrapped components per year.
Cyclic has mapped out most of its chain, and ERI will pre-process electronic waste with magnets at eight locations in the United States and mainly transport it to Arizona. Synetiq provides electric vehicle motors, Vattenfall wind turbines, and Lime micro-motors.
The company has an 10-year exclusive agreement covering all rare earth waste materials from Vacuumschmelze (VAC) at its Sumter factory in South Carolina, which began operations at the end of 2025. In June this year, Energy Fuels agreed to acquire Vac for $1.9 billion.
In terms of sales, Solvay has agreed to purchase recycled MREO under the supply agreement in La Rochelle, France in June 2024. Vac has the right to use Cyclic's oxides in magnet production. Glencore purchases recycled copper on a long-term purchase basis and conducts refining in Quebec.
