USA Rare Earth expands more

  • April 22, 2026

 

Months after Stillwater’s USA Rare Earth company was in line to get $1 billion in government funding and loans in its push for rate earth mineral development, the proposal has come under close scrutiny in Washington, D.C.

The company, with its magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater, made another major announcement this week in its $1.8 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of Brazilian rare earths miner Serra Verde. It’s an addition to the company’s Round Top Texas mine and a stake in the French processing firm Carester, reported Reuters.

The buyout came after the U.S. Commerce Department made its large investment in January in USA Rare Earth. Barbara Humpton, CEO, said it “represents a transformational step in delivering on our ambition to build a global champion and the partner of choice in ​rare earth elements, oxides, metals and magnets.”

The U.S. group’s Oklahoma magnet plant is expected to launch later this year. The landmark agreement with the government was followed by USA Rare Earth’s appointment of the naming of an expanded leadership team at its magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater.
But a report critical of the lack of speed in development of the Stillwater plant came this week at Fox 25 News. It said the plant that promised jobs and production by 2023 was still not fully operational in 2026.
The TV News report said questions still remain about environmental approvals of the plant despite public funding which included

 $1.2 million from the State of Oklahoma

  • Local tax incentives
  • Up to $7 million from the City of Stillwater through a tax increment financing (TIF) agreement

The company finished trading on Wednesday with a gain of 11.20% or $2.56 per share to close at $25.41.

 

Jerry Bohnen