The USAR Will Invest 203 Million US Dollars in The Rare Earth Facilities in France.

HOUSTON, June 1 (Argus) - USAR, an American rare earth developer, plans to invest over 203 million US dollars in France by 2030 to expand its capabilities in rare earth element separation, metals, alloys, and magnet manufacturing.
USAR stated on Monday that this expansion is based on the initiative in France, and these measures include the LCM rare earth metal and alloy production facility in Lacq, as well as the investment in Carester SAS and the investment by the European private investment platform InfraVia Capital Partners.
In September last year, USAR acquired LCM, headquartered in the UK, for 125 million US dollars, planning to develop a 3,750-ton-per-year rare earth element metal and alloy production facility in Lacq in southwestern France, which is located at the same site as Carester's 1,600-ton-per-year Ceramag REE oxide facility scheduled to come online by the end of 2026.
The company said that this investment will be combined with the incentives and additional support from the French government, including debt guarantees and potential direct equity investments in USAR's European subsidiary.
Carester signed an investment term sheet with InfraVia in April, planning to make a minority equity investment with USAR, which may result in InfraVia and USAR each holding 12.5% of Carester's equity.
Carester signed a rare earth supply contract with automaker Stellantis in 2024, providing more than 3400 tons of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium oxides for them over a 10-year period. The company is developing the Caremag project, recovering 2,000 tons per year of magnets and refining 5,000 tons per year of concentrate.