REalloys, with its main operations in Euclid, Ohio and now a NASDAQ publicly listed company, has racked up a blistering pace of developments aimed at creating a new mines-to-magnets supply chain devoid of Chinese sources. They connect supply and technical capababilities from Canada and South Korea and elsewhere globally with its own operations in the U.S., all targeting particularly the opportunity to supply American military and defense efforts.
The latest deal came in July as it agreed with South Korean magnet manufacturer JS Link to jointly evaluate opportunities to combine REalloys’ North American rare earth supply chain, processing, heavy rare earth metallization, government and defense relationships, commercialization capabilities and capital markets expertise with JS Link’s permanent magnet manufacturing technology, operational expertise and global manufacturing platform.
For REalloy, the proposed collaboration represents the next phase of its strategy to build a fully integrated North American rare earth platform. Over the past several months, it has announced several strategic moves, among them:
- a partnership with the United States Army aimed at developing and operating rare earth processing facilities at the Tooele Army Depot in Utah.
- initiation of qualification efforts for defense-grade heavy rare earth materials to support implementation of the January 1, 2027 DFARS 252.225-7052 sourcing requirements.
- completion of a $100 million private placement to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and accelerate execution of its strategy.
The deals build upon its ownership of the Hoidas Lake rare earth project in Saskatchewan, and:
- a strategic partnership with the Saskatchewan Research Council;
- the acquisition of PMT Critical Metals, the development of commercial-scale heavy rare earth metallization capabilities;
- an expanding portfolio of global rare earth feedstock agreements.
Collectively, the moves establish both upstream and midstream foundation for the strategy while the agreement with JS Link represents the next step by extending the platform into large-scale permanent magnet manufacturing. As reported earlier in Magnetics Magazine, JS Link has emerged recently as one of the leading non-Chinese permanent magnet manufacturers through its manufacturing operations in Korea and expansion plans in Malaysia and the U.S.
“Over the past year, REalloys has systematically assembled one of North America’s most comprehensive rare earth platforms – from feedstock and processing to heavy rare earth metallization, government partnerships and strategic financing,” commented Leonard (Lipi) Sternheim, CEO of REalloys. “We believe the logical next step is to extend that platform into permanent magnet manufacturing. JS Link has built an impressive magnet manufacturing business with ambitious global expansion plans, and we believe our complementary capabilities create a compelling opportunity to establish one of the few fully integrated non-Chinese rare earth magnet supply chains capable of supporting the rapidly growing needs of defense, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, robotics, AI infrastructure and other strategic industries.”
Added Jun Young Lee, CEO of JS Link: “JS Link has been executing a long-term strategy to establish a globally competitive permanent magnet manufacturing platform across Korea, Malaysia and the United States. REalloys has assembled an impressive upstream rare earth platform with significant processing, metallization, government and commercialization capabilities. We believe this strategic partnership has the potential to accelerate development of resilient permanent magnet supply chains outside China while creating significant long-term value for both companies and their shareholders.”
Metallization plant
In March, REalloys announced plans to build in Ohio what it says will be the largest heavy rare earth metallization facility outside of China, capable of meeting 2027 U.S. defense procurement bans on Chinese sourcing. Equipment for the facility will be built in Saskatoon, Canada in partnership with the Saskatchewan Research Council. Following commissioning and initial test runs, it is anticipated the equipment will be relocated to Euclid, Ohio and be integrated with its current metallization operations there. Initial operations were targeted for early to mid-2027, and full commercial-scale operations in mid-to-late 2027.
This builds on the partnership REalloys and SRC first announced in December 2025, which will see REalloys invest in expanded production capacity at SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility (REPF) in Saskatoon, SK, in exchange for 80% of the facility’s output. Once in full operation, SRC’s REPF facility is anticipated to produce high-purity Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) metal and Dy and Tb oxides, which will then be further processed and metallized by REalloys in Ohio.
“The establishment of heavy rare earth metal production on U.S. soil is a defining moment for North American industrial strategy,” said Stephen duMont, Chairman of REalloys. “The Ohio facility will create the metallization capability that bridges Canadian oxide production with U.S. magnet manufacturing — a critical link that’s never existed at scale in the West. This is not a pilot plant; this will be full scale commercial capacity, built with zero Chinese nexus, AI-enabled process optimization, and full compliance with Title 50 defense sourcing requirements. This is how we rebuild supply sovereignty from the ground up.” DuMont is non-executive chairman of the board of REalloys and serves as President of GM Defense, General Motors’ business focused on advanced mobility technologies for global defense, aerospace and security customers. In his GM Defense role, he oversees programs in electrified platforms, autonomy, and protected mobility and leads growth into new defense and government markets.
On August 14 in its second-quarter 2026 financial report, Sternheim reported that the company has fully funded the upgrade of SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility, targeting approximately 525 tons of NdPr metal, 30 tons of dysprosium oxide and 15 tons of terbium oxide of annual capacity; and also fully funded its metallization facility, targeting commissioning in the first quarter of 2028 with approximately 50 tons of annual dysprosium and terbium oxide capacity.
Landmark deal at Tooele Army Base in Utah
In June, REalloys announced it has reached a potentially landmark partnership agreement with the US Army in which it has been conditionally selected to operate a long-term enhanced use lease to design, finance, build, and operate heavy rare earth processing facilities at the Tooele Army Depot as part of the first commercial critical-mineral processing award on a government military installation.
Under an expedited timeline, development is targeted as early as 2027 with initial operating capability targeted no later than 2028 to align with the January 1, 2027, US federal procurement ban on Chinese materials in the Defense Industrial Manufacturing Base.
The facilities would refine heavy rare earths, including Dysprosium and Terbium, which are considered essential to national security for use in the Defense Industrial Manufacturing Base for high-temperature permanent magnets. The magnets are used in the production of precision-guided munitions, electric motors, sonar and other key systems.
Central to the company’s plans are its operations in Ohio, formerly belonging to PMT Critical Metals which it acquired in 2025, where REalloys now is building one of the world’s largest and most advanced NdFeB magnet production facilities starting at 3,000 tons per year and scaling to 10,000 tons. The plant incorporates state‑of‑the‑art systems including strip‑casting lines, low‑oxygen powder production, automated jet milling, field alignment presses, high‑temperature sintering furnaces, hot‑press/hot‑deformation systems, and precision machining and coating lines. For more info, see www.realloys.com.
