USA Rare Earth Brazil shipments to Pentagon: offtake and capex signals for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
USA Rare Earth has begun commercial shipments of mixed rare earth carbonate from Serra Verde’s Pela Ema ionic clay operations in Goiás, Brazil, to Pentagon-funded US SIIE LLC under a 15‑year, 100% take‑or‑pay offtake. Phase 1 at Serra Verde is ramping towards 4,000 tpa TREO by Q2 2027, with optimisation Stage 1 commissioned on time and budget, and a potential Phase II under review that could lift output to 12,800 tpa TREO. The contract sets floor prices of $110/kg for Nd/Pr, $575/kg for Dy and $2,050/kg for Tb, capturing heavy rare earth premia outside China and de‑risking upstream investment.
Technical Brief
- Stage 1 optimisation and expansion at Serra Verde was completed, commissioned on time and within budget.
- USA Rare Earth reports product quality from the optimised process is already ahead of planned specification.
- Commercial-scale production has restarted at Serra Verde with volumes and quality meeting offtake contractual requirements.
- USA Rare Earth targets 6,400 tpa TREO annual output by end‑2027, pending Phase II decisions.
- Serra Verde processes heavy rare earth‑rich ionic clays using proprietary, “home‑grown” Brazilian processing technology.
- USA Rare Earth receives 70% of non‑China market price above floor, net of fixed separation cost.
- Recent dysprosium oxide prices outside China are up to 16× Chinese levels; terbium up to 9×.
Our Take
USA Rare Earth’s 15‑year offtake from Serra Verde’s Pela Ema operations sits alongside its $1.2 billion NdFeB magnet plant in South Carolina (11 Sep 2026 piece), signalling a deliberate move to lock in both upstream Brazilian rare earth carbonate and downstream US magnet manufacturing capacity in one integrated chain.
Brazil’s new National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals and the presidential council flagged in the 7 Sep 2026 article will likely give Brasília leverage over long‑term rare earths offtakes in Goiás, so operators like Serra Verde and USA Rare Earth should expect closer scrutiny of contract terms and potential change‑of‑control events.
Non‑China dysprosium and terbium oxide price premia of 16x and 9x in this deal underscore why US‑backed critical mineral initiatives in Brazil (28 Sep 2026 coverage) are concentrating on heavy rare earths, as even modest Phase II output increases at Pela Ema could be highly cash‑generative at current ex‑China pricing spreads.
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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