US Strategic Metals and Ionic Rare Earths are building the first US permanent magnet recycling facility near Fredericktown, Missouri.
The United States is moving to curb its long-standing reliance on foreign supply chains for critical technology. American firm US Strategic Metals and Ionic Rare Earths are advancing plans to establish the country’s first dedicated permanent magnet recycling plant. The facility anchors on a fully licensed 708-hectare processing site operated near Fredericktown, Missouri, aiming to secure domestic access to materials essential for electronics, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense equipment.
Joint Venture Funding and Missouri Site Development
The project takes shape through a planned 50-50 joint venture between the two companies, formalized through an agreement signed in early September. The partnership expands upon a memorandum of understanding initially signed in November 2025 at the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
These capital contributions fund front-end engineering design work and accelerate the deployment of a demonstration recycling unit.
The United States will not fall behind in the race to develop industries that are critical to national security and our economic future.
Stacey W. Hastie, co-founder and CEO of US Strategic Metals, via ITC
Proprietary Extraction Technology from Ionic Technologies
The facility relies on a patented recycling process developed by Ionic Technologies, a company already operating a demonstration plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Belfast installation processes 30 tons of magnet waste annually and has successfully extracted more than 10 tons of separated rare-earth oxides since June 2023.
The recycling workflow begins by crushing and milling scrap magnets to separate base metals such as iron, manganese, aluminum, nickel, copper, and boron. The remaining concentrate undergoes a 15-stage solvent extraction process to isolate individual high-value oxides. Developers state the technology handles oxidized materials, coatings, and low-grade feedstocks while achieving greater than 99.5% purity in recovered products.
Target Elements and Domestic Defense Priorities
Operations at the Missouri plant target two distinct classes of permanent magnets: neodymium-iron-boron and samarium-cobalt. From these inputs, the facility plans to extract both light and heavy rare-earth elements critical to modern manufacturing.
The projected output includes neodymium and praseodymium, alongside heavy rare-earth elements such as dysprosium, terbium, samarium, gadolinium, and holmium. Companies involved in the project intend to finalize binding agreements before the end of 2026 as engineering and design phases proceed in Missouri.
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