INTERVIEW: REalloys taps into Kazakhstan to build years’ worth of REEs feedstock

REalloys, a US company set up to make permanent magnets, is exploring ways to grow and diversify feedstock supply for phase two of its North American mine-to-magnet platform, and is looking for sources as far afield as Kazakhstan, its CEO told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.

While its partner Rare Earth Processing Facility in Canada -- the first industrial-sized plant of the platform, due to come online this year -- has already secured five years' worth of feedstock for phase one, REalloys is focused on building up a supply of magnet-critical elements -- primarily neodymium and praseodymium, that naturally occur together and are almost inseparable, and dysprosium and terbium -- as it looks to launch the second phase.

For the project, a cluster of assets under construction will span separation, refining and metallization capacity with the Saskatchewan Research Council -- a Canadian organization supporting innovation and industrial commercialization -- and downstream alloy and magnet manufacturing capability in the US, stemming from REalloys' existing pilot plant in Euclid, Ohio, REalloys CEO Leonard Sternheim told Platts in an interview.

The Saskatchewan Research Council, or SRC, has spent $250 million on the Rare Earth Processing Facility in Saskatoon, and REalloys is investing an additional $21 million to expand the production of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium.

The facility in Canada, representing Phase 1 of the North American fully integrated rare earth technology platform, is approaching construction completion with commissioning on track for 2026 and first commercial production in early 2027. It will process 3,000 mt/year of monazite and recycled mixed rare-earth oxide to produce 525 mt/year of NdPr and 45 mt/year of Dy/Tb.

These high-purity metals will be used in REalloys' US-based magnet manufacturing with the initial output of 2,000 mt/year, and for US and allied defense supply chains and markets, Sternheim said.

A portion of feedstock for the operations in North America could come from Kazakhstan. REalloys has this month signed non-binding agreements to form a partnership with AltynGroup Kazakhstan and secure rare-earth feedstock initially from AltynGroup's iron ore asset, and later potentially from additional Kazakh sources.

REalloys cannot yet determine what share of the overall feedstock would come from Kazakhstan but says it could be meaningful, alongside other feedstock streams under development through North American and allied sourcing pathways.

Kazakhstan's Geology Committee has reported 2.6 million mt of rare-earth element reserves nationwide. Yet this could be only a fraction of the country's potential, said Sternheim.

REalloys and AltynGroup's joint workstream is intended to identify opportunities among Kazakhstan's multiple prospective REEs localities and prioritize candidates that can produce a consistent concentrate spec suitable for North American operations.

The agreement secures initial offtake from AltynGroup's Kokbulak asset, which holds over 350 million mt of iron ore reserves, and the offtake relates to a concentrate derived from iron tailings, said Sternheim. He explained that rare earth elements commonly occur as byproducts in iron ore tailings, phosphates, alkaline systems, mineral sands, and polymetallic deposits, although not all are commercially viable.

For REalloys, AltynGroup will focus on upstream work -- beneficiation and conditioning -- to produce a ready-to-ship mixed rare-earth concentrate.

Identifying additional REE sources in Kazakhstan and elsewhere reflects the company's strategy to enhance long-term supply. "It does not imply depletion risk at Kokbulak, for example. Byproduct streams can be long-lived where the host operation is large, but REalloys' approach is to build a portfolio of feedstocks, so production is resilient, expandable, and not dependent on a single asset or geology," said Sternheim.

Investment participation from AltynGroup will also be required to scale REalloys' US capacity to support the processing of Kazakh feedstock, including from Kokbulak, although REalloys does not expect the same from all suppliers, being selective about who it brings on board as investors in the company, it told Platts.

"The Rare Earth Processing Facility with the SRC has contracted feed from existing mining and recycling sources for the first five years of operation. The non-binding investment commitment from AltynGroup will support its expansion aligned with the development of REalloy's Phase 2 plant, capable of producing 3,000 mt/year of NdPr and 245 mt/year of Dy, Tb to manufacture 15,000 mt/year of permanent magnets," said Sternheim.

"Demand for qualified, non-Chinese magnet-critical rare-earth supply is significant, particularly for heavy rare earths used in defense and high-performance applications," Sternheim said explaining the rationale for securing feedstock in excess of early requirements. "We expect sustained demand for compliant Dy, Tb, NdPr and other REEs, driven by defense modernization, electrification and advanced motors/robotics."

For AltynGroup, the partnership creates a pathway to monetize a byproduct and access a long-term offtake tied to premium end markets; its benefits for Kazakhstan include higher-value processing opportunities, strengthened industrial ties to the US and allied supply chains. Technology and skill transfer could be another possibility, according to Sternheim.

Reflecting on obstacles to developing REE production outside China, REalloys CEO stressed that processing rare earths is very complex.

"The Saskatchewan Research Council has spent more than half a decade refining the processes to optimize them for specification and economics. Establishing new capacity without this experience is perilous and subject to a range of technical, procurement and economic challenges," he said.

Then, the materials processed to produce rare earths often contain radioactive elements. Through its partner, SRC, REalloys has the capability to remove uranium and thorium, which requires specific permitting, safety, and logistics considerations that, in many jurisdictions, are not well established. These factors could lead to delays and additional implementation costs, according to Sternheim.

He also mentioned price volatility and China-linked price-setting as other real challenges, but noted that REE production profitability is not solely a function of spot prices.

REalloys' model improves economics by multi-feedstock sourcing, including byproduct tailings-derived feeds, where mining costs are largely carried by the primary commodity. Innovating separation, refining, and metallization processes also allows the company to lower costs and increase yields, as does focusing on dysprosium and terbium, the most constrained heavy rare earth elements and the missing links for the North American magnet industry.