HOUSTON, February 24th (Argus) - The US Department of Defense has awarded ReElement Technologies $2 million to expand the rare earth element separation capacity at its Marion plant in Indiana.
This two-year grant was awarded on September 3rd but was not announced until this week due to the federal government shutdown that delayed the funding until the end of 2025. This move aims to enhance the United States' access to domestic and allied-produced raw materials and reduce its reliance on the China-dominated supply chain.
This funding will support ore processing, recycling magnets and waste materials, which is part of the US Department of Energy's "Mineral to Magnet" program in 2027, aimed at establishing a domestic rare earth supply chain.
This contract is funded by the Department of Defense's Industrial Base Analysis and Maintenance (IBAS) program. Since 2014, more than $260 million has been invested in 207 projects to expand the production capacity of the US industrial base.
ReElement uses chromatographic refining technology to produce high-purity rare earth oxides for permanent magnets used in defense and commercial applications.
