Rare earths and critical minerals

USA Rare Earth, a Nasdaq-listed company, said on 20 April 2026 that it has agreed to pay US$2.8bn to acquire Brazil’s Serra Verde. Serra Verde is the only producer of all four magnetic rare earths outside of Asia. Through this acquisition, the US company is buying a mine in the state of Goiás that began commercial production in 2024, extracting REEs from ionic clay deposits. Serra Verde is ahead of the game; other rare earth mines in Brazil are not expected to come on stream until 2028.