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Published: November 11, 2026 |
USA Rare Earth said its upstream division has achieved first production and delivery of yttrium (Y) oxide samples from its 24/7 continuous solvent extraction (SX) demonstration plant in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This milestone positions USA Rare Earth as one of the only companies outside Asia with capabilities spanning the yttrium value chain from mining, through separation, to finished metal.
The samples were delivered to a major integrated defense, medical, and specialty coatings company for use in preliminary testing and prototyping, marking a key milestone toward commercial qualification. The delivery extends USAR’s capabilities to yttrium production, a critical material used in thermal barriers and protective coatings for jet engines, the equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, and advanced ceramics, lasers, medical devices, and defense systems. It remains one of the most supply-constrained heavy rare earth elements outside of China.
“Producing and delivering yttrium oxide samples marks a significant step in strengthening our position as a global leader in rare earths, critical minerals, and advanced materials,” said Dr. Alex Moyes, Head of Upstream, USA at USA Rare Earth.
“With our first carbonate-to-oxide tests complete and extensive optimization of product finishing underway, we are refining specifications and consistency now so that we can serve both external customers and our internal metal-making business at commercial scale,” added Dr. Moyes.
Yttrium is a critical material used in thermal barriers and protective coatings for jet engines, in the equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, and in advanced ceramics, lasers, medical devices, and defense systems. Supply outside China is severely constrained, with recent Western prices for yttrium oxide more than 100 times the price in China, according to Argus.
The milestone extends the company’s yttrium value chain upstream and complements its existing capabilities. Serra Verde, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, is the only scaled producer of yttrium outside China. Once online, the company’s Round Top project is also expected to produce yttrium oxide. In April 2026, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary Less Common Metals completed the first commercial pour of yttrium metal at 99 percent to 99.5 percent purity (2N–2N5) at its facility in Cheshire, United Kingdom, placing the company among a limited number of producers of commercial-grade yttrium metal outside Asia. Together with oxide separation now demonstrated at Wheat Ridge, these capabilities connect yttrium production to finished metal within a single company.
The Wheat Ridge demonstration facility runs 24 hours a day and is fully instrumented for real-time process monitoring across every unit operation. The facility is built to digitally and physically simulate the company’s future commercial-scale operations, and the data it generates flows directly into the engineering design of a planned consolidated separation plant, which will process both magnet swarf and mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC). This allows the team to validate its proprietary flowsheets and refine the commercial design using live operating data and physical testing. The yttrium circuit at Wheat Ridge has operated for more than 1,600 hours.
USA Rare Earth is building a fully integrated rare earth and permanent magnet supply chain across the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Through its ownership of Less Common Metals (LCM), one of the world’s leading producers of rare earth metals and alloys, and its development of magnet manufacturing capacity in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USAR operates across the entire value chain from heavy rare earth processing to metal-making, alloy production, and neodymium magnet manufacturing. By combining domestic feedstock from the Round Top deposit with advanced processing technologies, recycling capabilities, and a growing European industrial footprint, USAR is establishing a secure, sustainable, Western-aligned supply of materials essential to defense, electrification, robotics, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing industries.
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