USA Rare Earth, InfraVia Ink US$93 Million Deal for French Rare Earths Refiner

A US critical minerals developer and a European infrastructure fund are injecting approximately US$93 million into a French rare earths refining specialist, marking a transatlantic push to break China’s monopoly.

USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ:USAR) and Paris-based InfraVia Capital Partners have signed a term sheet to each acquire a 12.5 percent equity stake in Carester, an independent recycling and separation technology firm.

The parallel US$46.8 million investments will fund Carester’s flagship "Caremag" facility in Lacq, Southern France.

Scheduled for commissioning in late 2026, the Lacq plant is designed to process 7,000 metric tons of feedstock annually, comprising 2,000 metric tons of recycled permanent magnets, and 5,000 metric tons of mining concentrate.

At its targeted full run rate in early 2027, the facility is projected to produce 800 metric tons of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, 500 metric tons of dysprosium oxide and 100 metric tons of terbium oxide per year.

According to USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton, those heavy rare earths volumes represent roughly 15 percent of current global production of dysprosium and terbium.

Currently, China processes nearly 100 percent of the world's supply of these specific elements.

The transaction secures a crucial processing bottleneck for USA Rare Earth, which is actively building out a "mine-to-magnet" supply chain independent of Beijing. Alongside the equity purchase, the US firm locked in a 15 year supply pact, a 15 year offtake agreement and an intellectual property licensing framework with Carester.

Under the offtake terms, USA Rare Earth holds the right to purchase up to 50 percent of the heavy rare earth oxides produced from its contributed feedstock. These materials will supply Less Common Metals, a European alloy-making subsidiary that USA Rare Earth acquired in October, effectively linking primary mine output to finished magnet alloys.

The arrangement adds immediate processing flexibility for the company's Round Top deposit in Texas.

Carester will process excess heavy rare earths concentrate from Round Top or other deposits the US firm accesses, providing a European separation alternative while domestic facilities scale.

Founded in 2019 by former Solvay (EBR:SOLB,OTCPL:SVYSF) exec Frédéric Carencotte, Carester has secured US$252.7 million in financial backing from the French government and strategic partners, including Japan France Rare Earths.

The capital injection marks the second investment from InfraVia's Critical Metals Fund, a vehicle seeded by the French state under the France 2030 investment plan to secure the country's energy transition supply chain.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.