Good afternoon, everyone. I'm George Gianarikas, one of Canaccord Genuity's Sustainability Analysts. We're incredibly pleased to have with us today the team from USA Rare Earth, Rob Steele, CFO, Lionel McBee, VP of Investor Relations, a company that's geared to helping us secure a U.S. magnetic supply chain. With that, Rob, please go ahead.
Great. Thanks, everybody. As George said, I'm Rob Steele, the CFO of the company. USA Rare Earth went public in March 2025, and over the last six months, we've been investing aggressively in building out, in particular, our magnet capability, but also investing in our deposit, which is known as Round Top Mountain. In terms of our mission, we are going to build this supply chain over the next several years, and we're going to be starting with the magnet end of the equation. That'll be our first business, which we're standing up here in the next six months or so. Taking a step back, what's important to understand is that rare earth magnets, in particular, are used virtually everywhere where you use electricity to turn, where you use electricity to turn it into motion. That's done with a rare earth magnet.
When you think about motors, when you think about servos, when you think about speakers, when you think about sensors, all of those things require magnets. The industry itself in North America is estimated to be something on the order of 50,000 metric tons per year. Because of the growth in certain sectors, such as AI, such as data centers, such as robotics, these sectors are growing massively. This sector is going to double over the next several years. Demand is growing significantly. Ultimately, the challenge is, as we've seen, that China controls 90% of the rare earth processing market, 70% of the magnet making capability. With the ongoing trade war and global tensions, and certainly the threat of real war, this has become a real problem for the U.S.
It's one of the motivating factors, as you've seen, why the U.S. government recently invested in MP Materials, an investment which we applaud. We think it's fantastic and sets a great template for what can be done between government and the private sector going forward. We're in active discussions with the government as we speak on what can be done. This is a massive market and a massive opportunity. In terms of the Trump Administration itself, they've been extremely aggressive in looking at this category at multiple levels. It's not just that DOD, it's in the Department of Commerce and the Department of Energy. While the MP investment came out of the Department of Defense, there's also the Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce have been interested in essentially competing with the DOD to try to formulate their own strategies.
You've got this really great motivation in the U.S. government to make further investments in the category. Where are we today? We have three facilities currently. Our flagship facility is our magnet making facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That's a 310,000 sq ft facility where we're currently standing up our first 600 metric tons of production. We also have a research and development lab, and that lab is for our deposit. That's where they're working on what's called our flow sheet for our deposit, which is known as Round Top down in Texas. Those are our three main facilities. In our metal making and magnet production facility, we also have our magnet innovations lab. That's where we're currently working with customers to spec magnets for production.
As you've seen, we've announced something on the order of 13 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with potential customers across multiple industries that we're working on to spec their magnets. This is a picture I use to help people understand how the industry is set up and where we fit. On the customer front, we have our magnet production. This facility itself is going to be able to produce 5,000 metric tons. We have 30 acres of expansion potential at this facility to go to 10,000 metric tons. We can produce a wide range of magnets at that facility to serve a broad range of the industry's needs. To give you a sense of the rare earth magnet industry, 50,000 metric tons going to 100,000, the aerospace and defense component, which is covered by government's investment in MP Materials, only covers about 8% of the market.
That leaves 92% of the market across electric vehicles, across wind, across the medical industry, across general industries for us to be able to work with. Our business is focused on the other 92% of the market. On the other end is our deposit. What's unique about our deposit is that it's a heavy rare earth deposit. These are things like dysprosium and terbium. These are the expensive components of magnets. At that deposit, we also have gallium, which goes not only into magnets, but also into semiconductors and other advanced technical applications. We have beryllium, which is really important for the nuclear power industry. This deposit is absolutely critical to U.S. national security needs going forward. Right now, we have a $1.5 billion market cap and about $130 million of cash. Right now, what we're currently executing on is this piece.
The light blue is the middle part of the supply chain. This piece right now, we currently get supplied via our partner, Korea Strategic Minerals, out of Korea. Going forward, we're looking at diversifying our sources, as well as several other strategies to secure this part of the supply chain. Those strategies include our own investment. Looking at actually buying the capability, equipment, essentially, and personnel for us to be able to fill this piece in. We're also looking at joint ventures with joint venture partners. Naturally, as we should be, we're looking at potential acquisition opportunities. We're doing the same thing on recycling. What's interesting about recycling, you need to think about recycling as like a mine. If we have 50,000 tons of demand here in the United States, that means we have much more than 50,000 tons of magnets coming offline every single year in the United States.
To the extent they're accessible, those magnets can be processed back into rare earth oxide and then back into metal and back into magnets. It's literally a full circle supply chain through recycling. That is something that several companies are working on right now. We're looking to potentially partner with those types of opportunities to secure that supply chain. As we look out going forward, it's going to be important that we have a reliable alternative source of rare earth oxides and metals. In terms of what we've accomplished so far, the commissioning of our facility is expected to take place in the first quarter of next year, and we're on track to be able to do so. We anticipate shipping around 200 - 400 tons of product next year.
Currently, if you look at our customers, we've talked a little bit about in our earnings release about our MoUs that we have right now. Right now, we're tracking around 70 customers plus, with more coming in almost every single day. We've got about 5,000 -7 ,000 tons of potential demand. All of that will not necessarily convert into purchase orders, but that's our kind of gross demand in that 70 customer pipeline, of which we have sort of high confidence in around 2,000 tons. Our MoUs cover 300 tons. If you think about our production next year, somewhere in the 200 - 400 ton range, we feel pretty good that we've got some of that covered. That's looking good for us right now. On Round Top, we're moving forward with that as well. We're continuing to separate rare earths.
We've separated gallium and feel confident that we're going to get to our flow sheet sometime in the next six months or so. That's working for us. If you look at the mix of customers, I think this is what's really important. Broad-based of different industrial applications. As we talked about earlier, we're attempting to serve that, call it 90% of the industry that's not being served by MP Materials. Our customers will reflect that. What's great about this is that with the situation with China and with the announcement by MP Materials where the DOD is their customer, other companies realize that they need to secure their magnets from somebody else. That somebody else is USA Rare Earth. It's a great position to be in. In terms of where we stand right now, as I mentioned, we have a strong capital foundation, $130 million of cash.
We have a significant amount of warrants outstanding currently. Approximately $70 million of warrants struck at $7 a share, and another $200 million of warrants struck at $11.50. That's around $270 million, $280 million of value just within our own warrant base. We actually don't have to raise additional capital in order to fund our needs necessarily right now. We're actively engaged with the U.S. government. The U.S. government has been very supportive of looking at multiple opportunities with us across the board, whether it be with the DOD, whether it be with Exim Bank, whether it be through different forms of grants. Very, very supportive of our efforts. In terms of growth, we're going to be doubling the number of employees over the next three, four months. We'll be going to about 100 employees by year end, up from 50 today.
For the rest of the year, we're probably going to spend on the order of $60 million of CapEx. That could potentially grow with further announcements. If we have the business case to accelerate to our next phase of growth, our next 600 tons, we'll certainly do so. If we have the business case to be able to add advanced magnet making capabilities, we'll also seek to do so. We get asked about our timelines quite a bit. Currently, if you look at the timing of the mine and processing on the bottom, we expect to be at our flow sheet somewhere in the 2025-2026 timeframe. Once we have our flow sheet made, we'll go to our PFS and our S-K 1300. The plan is to raise capital consistent with milestone unlocks on the deposit. As we hit new milestones, we'll be raising more capital for the next phase.
Our next phase on the deposit would be to go to a pilot scale, a pilot scale heap leach and a pilot scale processing once we reach the flow sheet milestones. I think with that, I'll turn it over to questions.
Thank you, Rob. I think I'll start before I turn it to the audience. You mentioned that the DOD or the U.S. government broadly are very supportive. MP Materials had their announcement, I think it's two weeks ago now, three weeks ago now, with this sort of game-changing paradigm around how the U.S. government will support the price of NdPr and help them in their magnet making potential. To the extent you can share, what sort of form and shape could any U.S. government assistance look like for your company?
Yeah, so there's multiple levels. There's grants, as we talked about. There could be grants on different types of capabilities, such as gallium. There's forms of grants on that. There are government loans, different government loan programs, which we're currently working on. If you look at the MP template, you could certainly see something along the lines of price support because we have heavies. The U.S. government does think about the MP investment as an investment. Other things they do will likely be with an added objective of supporting their own investment in that capability. You could see something like that come out of it. There could be further ways to help us support our deposit going forward. Net-net, I would say similar template, but not necessarily exactly the same components.
We focus on that mining and processing part there, where there's this potentially huge deposit at Round Top. Can you, for the non-mining folks in the audience, help us understand what the next steps are? Can you compartmentalize flow sheet and feasibility study, demonstration plate, et cetera?
Yeah, I can slide in here on that. This is basically the steps. Essentially, we go from a flow sheet. The flow sheet, what that does is it basically confirms the science along with basic economic analysis. It's not a full economic analysis that you would find in a feasibility study, but it basically says you have the science to be able to extract and separate the rare earths and turn them into rare earth oxides, as well as the basic economics behind if once you extract and separate, can you actually sell those at a price that ultimately makes having the mine make sense. That's the first step. The feasibility study is a much more in-depth economic analysis that you use to go to the next phase. The pilot plant, the heap leach, and the hydromet plant, these are small-scale processing. Think of it as a small-scale mine.
This is where a heap leach is where you actually extract the rare earth concentrate from the ore itself. The hydromet is actually where you have the early stage of the separation process. From there, we would go to a definitive feasibility study, which gets us to be able to actually call it a mine. We would actually go to mine construction.
With Round Top, help us understand the potential. If you've literally struck gold or heavies.
Yeah, I mean, we try to, the way we describe potential is we actually have to point to our partner. We're an 80% holder of Round Top. Our 20% partner is Texas Mineral Resources Corp. They did a preliminary economic analysis in 2017. That economic analysis says the mine could be worth billions over time.
Maybe to focus on the magnetics piece, which you're focusing on yourselves first, help us understand the ecosystem that you have to build, the feedstock potential. I mean, there's a lot of lights in the world, but there aren't a lot of heavies outside of China. How do you plan to tackle that problem? Have you built the supply chain to get ready for the first 1,000 - 4,000?
Yeah, I mean, our supply chain with our partner KSM is sufficient to cover our first 1,200 tons, which is the first full line of four lines at that facility. We feel pretty good about that. As I mentioned, we are looking for ways to add to that. That could be through additional partners. There are other companies that actually make strip cast that have sourcing as well, as well as creating our own capabilities in-house, including looking at recycling as a way to do that.
Specifically, because we get this question a lot about MP Minerals, what about heavies? Heavies are the real bottleneck. China processes about 100%. Do you see that as a bottleneck after your first tranche of magnets?
Yeah, I mean, I think people are concerned about that after 1,200 tons. That's where you start seeing some bottlenecks there. That's where you can start filling it in with things like recycling. Recycling has heavies in it, and you can literally get to heavies with that methodology. We can also diversify our potential sources outside of KSM , and we feel like that over time, there's going to be enough there.
Any questions from the audience?
So, is pricing for the end market products better than it was, you know, say, three months ago?
You mean magnets from--
Yeah, what you're paying or what you're selling your products for, or what you're selling for.
Yeah, I mean we're not--
Has it kept up with the Trump Administration pushing or supporting the industry?
I think what's happened is that the tariff situation, the fact that China has been withholding, to a certain extent, the export of rare earths and rare earth magnets has created essentially a supply issue here. Companies that utilize those magnets are trying to find alternative sources. As a consequence, they're looking at people like us to be able to supply them. Also noting that magnets, rare earth magnets, do not make up a significant portion of the bill of materials for a lot of the products that they ultimately go into. To your question, which is probably getting at pricing, are they going to be willing to pay more than the prices they get in China for our magnets? In our conversations, we typically tell people that the price of our magnets is going to be two to three plus times what they pay for coming out of China.
No one's blinked at that. They realize these are core components of their products, and they need to get them.
The investment in the industry has somewhat been hindered by legal or environmentalist pushback on building out new mines and things like that. Is that scenario eased with the administration support?
Our deposit sits on state land, so it's not as big of an issue for us. It seems like the Trump administration is more liberal with their policies. Our magnet facilities are in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is one of the most business-friendly states in the country. We haven't had any issues. In fact, any time we have what could be an environmental issue, they actually come up with ideas and say, here's how you fix it. It's been fantastic working with them.
Thank you.
Process, does it require, for example, hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid?
Right now, we've tested it with both. We're working through a flow sheet primarily with sulfuric acid right now, but we have tested it with both.
I'll ask the next question. With regard to just broad-based expertise in the United States, people, equipment, how comfortable do you feel that not just you, but the industry could ramp up to the 50,000 tons plus that we need as a country to get the job done over the next few years?
I feel like we can do it. Fortunately, some of the knowledge is still here, and we have some of the leadership we have in Stillwater for our magnet facility. Our folks have been in the industry for decades, and we do have that knowledge. I think the process itself of standing up a magnet factory is actually a magnet making is more like ceramics than it is actually metallurgy once you have the metal. We have people that are experts with ceramics that are standing up that facility. We think between the combination of our magnet technologists who actually run our lab and set the formulas and set the process and our manufacturing expertise, we're going to be able to get there. We feel good about that, and we feel good that over time, once the processes are established, we'll be able to get to the tonnage.
So, I don't see that as being an issue.
In terms of the required CapEx to get from 1,200 - 4,800 or 5,000 over time, can you help us understand the dollars per ton, basically, that the CapEx required to get to that level?
I actually haven't quantified it that way. If we do the quick math, I would have to do it. It's about $250 million of CapEx to get to around 5,000 metric tons, is the math. At the very least, if we add advanced processing capabilities, meaning we add things like finishings and coating and shaping, it could be another $50 - $100 million, depending upon what we ultimately do there.
I was fascinated by the customer conversation metric they use. I think it was 70+ that you had.
Yeah.
Can you just sort of give form and shape to what those customers look like? Who are you getting calls from? Is your phone ringing off the hook?
I mean, it's everything from large industrials, very large industrials, automotive, all the way down to small hand tool and power tool companies. We have oil and gas companies that make specialty equipment for them. We've got AI robotics companies calling us. It's just a really broad range of companies that need these types of magnets, which is great. Yeah.
How differentiated are the magnets? In other words, if you have 100 customers eventually, how specific do you have to get into cutting and shaping, and in terms of content, like adjusting what you have to do for each one?
Yeah, I mean, there's kind of five to seven different shapes of magnets. It's really the sizing is where you get to it. If you think about a cell phone, a cell phone might have somewhere between 9 and 13 little magnets in it. Those require micro machining and shaping and finishing. Some of the defense applications require advanced coatings as well. It just depends. What we're trying to do is, as you sort of curate your customers, what you try to do is think about matching your capability with those initial set of customers on an economic basis. That's exactly what we're doing. We're saying, where can we have the best economic impact that matches our line? Then staging those to make sure we can address the needs of future customers. That's exactly the way we're thinking about it.
Maybe going back to the timeline, if all things go well, how quickly can you get to 5,000 tons of production?
We're really limited. I mean, there's really only production itself; it's just capital that limits that and lead times on equipment. In theory, if we had all the capital in the world, we could have all our lines up and running by the end of 2027, that fast. If we had $350 million of capital, we could get this done pretty quickly. We would also have to make sure, of course, we have the customers to support that. We feel pretty good about that as well.
You had one sliding last question about the intermediate steps from mine to actually magnets. Can you just talk about that ecosystem? Do you have the will to kind of build that on your own? Are there partners internationally, maybe with friendly countries, that could help get to from one point to the other?
Yeah, I mean, the answer is yes and yes. I think for us, it's really about the most efficient way to get there. Efficiency, you have to look at efficiency from the standpoint of both cost, speed, and capability. You have to look at all of those things. Certainly, we don't have full metal making knowledge in-house. If we initially do that, we're going to have to hire and/or partner. As you start getting down into the more technical aspects, you start thinking more and more about JVs and acquisitions. It really depends upon that. If you want to do it fast, you buy. If you have time, then you invest.
It's a great place to stop. Thank you, Rob.
Thank you, Lionel.
Appreciate it.