The story
USA Rare Earth was founded in 2019 by Pini Althaus. The company initially focused on acquiring and developing domestic US resources to support a "mine-to-magnet" strategy, encompassing mining, separation, metal production, and magnet manufacturing.
By early 2025, the company achieved its initial milestones, including the production of high-purity dysprosium oxide from Round Top ore and the opening of an Innovations Lab in Stillwater for prototype magnet development. In January 2025, USA Rare Earth produced its first batch of sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets at the lab, marking a step toward commercial-scale output.
In September 2025, USA Rare Earth announced a binding agreement to acquire Less Common Metals, a UK-based rare earth metals and alloys manufacturer, for $100 million in cash plus 6.74 million shares of USAR common stock.
In 2025, the company secured $75 million via a private investment in public equity arrangement to support its magnet manufacturing project and operations.
On January, 2026, the Trump Administration announced a US$1.6 billion debt-and-equity investment in the company acquiring a 10% stake in the company aimed at growing domestic mining and production of REEs.
On July 20, 2026, the company announced that Barbara Humpton would retire from her position as CEO effective October 1, 2026.
From Wikipedia’s article on USA Rare Earth, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6