A subsidiary of Fishers-based American Resources Corp. on Monday announced a $1.4 billion partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense and a North Carolina-based company to increase the domestic production of rare earth magnets.
The funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital will support ReElement Technologies LLC’s partnership with Vulcan Elements to support the production of advanced rare earth element separation, metallization and magnet manufacturing capabilities in the United States.
The OSC’s commitment includes two separate loans matched by private capital that consist of $620 million for Durham, North Carolina-based Vulcan Elements and $80 million for ReElement Technologies.
The funding for the loans comes from legislation formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in July.
ReElement and Vulcan will work together to produce 10,000 metric tons of neodymium magnets (also known as NdFeB magnets), which are used in products like electric motors of cordless tools, hard disk drives and magnetic fasteners.
“ReElement’s innovative refining platform is designed to address midstream processing and refining challenges for rare earth and critical minerals,” Mark Jensen, CEO of American Resources and ReElement Technologies, said in a written statement. “Our ongoing collaboration with Vulcan Elements is driven by a shared vision, mission and culture of execution. With support from the United States Government, we are positioned to deliver the secure, scalable, and sustainable solutions that our nation’s supply chain urgently needs.”
Two years ago, ReElement Technologies acquired a controlling interest in the former RCA Thomson plant and its 42-acre campus in Marion. The company invested at least $100 million to convert the 425,000-square-foot facility, which was previously used to make television tubes, into a rare earth and battery material refinery that could eventually employ more than 300 people.
The company plans to redevelop the campus and bring additional companies into the lithium ion supply chain.
ReElement works with companies within the industry to refine battery materials such as lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel sourced from end-of-life batteries and manufacturing waste.
The company also refines rare earth elements sourced from end-of-life magnets, such as those found in high-efficiency motors, electric vehicles, wind turbines, power tools and hard drives.
American Resources Corp. focuses on the extraction and processing of metallurgical carbon and iron ore, which are both essential ingredients in steelmaking, as well as critical and rare earth minerals for the electrification market and recycled metals.
Last year, another of the company’s subsidiaries, American Metals LLC, merged with New York City-based AI Transportation Acquisition Corp. American Metals is a recycling specialist focused on used steel available at decommissioned thermal coal mining operations in Kentucky.