ASM–Noveon NdFeB alloy deal: supply chain and design notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Australian Strategic Materials has agreed to sell a further 60 tonnes of high‑purity neodymium‑iron‑boron (NdFeB) alloy to US magnet producer Noveon, deepening its offtake relationship and supporting plans to develop US operations. The NdFeB alloy, produced at ASM’s Korean Metals Plant (KMP), targets high‑performance permanent magnet applications in electric vehicles and wind turbines, where tight compositional control and low impurity levels are critical. For mining and processing players, the move signals continued downstream integration from rare earth oxide production into alloy and magnet supply chains linked to US demand.
Technical Brief
- Contract specifies alloy from ASM’s Korean Metals Plant, confirming KMP as the qualified production source.
- Additional tonnage sale is structured as a follow-on order under the existing NdFeB alloy supply relationship.
- Commercial terms include delivery of finished alloy, not intermediate rare earth oxides or metals.
- For other rare earth developers, the move illustrates value in securing alloy-level offtake rather than oxide-only contracts.
Our Take
NdFeB is one of the less frequently covered commodities in our 156 Mining stories, which signals that ASM’s 60‑tonne alloy sale sits in a relatively niche but strategically important magnet-materials segment rather than the bulk metals space.
For an Australia-based operator like ASM, supplying high-purity NdFeB alloy into the US market can help de-risk reliance on Asian magnet supply chains, a theme that has been emerging in several rare-earths and critical-minerals items in our database.
The reference to KMP alongside NdFeB alloy sales suggests ASM is positioning its upstream asset as a feedstock base for value-added magnet materials, which typically improves project bankability compared with a pure concentrate-export model.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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