Establishing a Domestic, Rare-Earth Metal Manufacturing Supply Chain to Support Critical DAF Needs

Today, the DAF and DoD cannot function without rare earth metal and magnets. China currently produces ~90% of the rare earth metal and magnets for defense and commercial systems, creating a significant supply chain vulnerability for the U.S. and its allies. Further, the prevailing Chinese method of refining rare earth oxides is energy intensive, requires toxic chemicals, and produces harmful waste.  Vulcan Elements proposes an alternative production method that is scalable, cheaper, and more sustainable. This study will investigate plausible rare earth metal alternatives that can be sustainably and economically produced for NdFeB alloy, the key input for rare earth magnets. Vulcan Elements has a 21,000 sqft facility in Raleigh, NC focused on manufacturing rare earth magnets for DoD and commercial applications. Our team is comprised of metal powder experts, a former U.S. Military Officer with experience financing and purchasing rare earth magnets for DoD Technology Platforms deployed worldwide, a professor who opened the first rare earth magnetic lab in the U.S. in two decades and has been a PI on several DARPA projects, a former SpaceX engineer, a manufacturing scale-up expert, and a talented manufacturing team focused on improving national security and aiding in the transition to a decarbonized economy.