The Trump administration’s financial interventions in support of rare earths mining companies are working to drive more capital into the sector, the CEO of the latest such company to go public told Semafor.
Rare Earth Americas listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the first rare earths mining venture to go public in the US since 2010 via a traditional listing, unlike the special-purpose acquisitions that recently brought companies like USA Rare Earth and MP Materials to the public market.
REA, which aims to mine heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium from plots in Brazil and the US state of Georgia, also stands out from those other players in that it does not have any financing from the US government. But CEO Don Swartz said he’s open to seeking it out “in the future,” with the support of his board chair Reta Jo Lewis, who was CEO of the US Export-Import Bank under former President Joe Biden. REA is scrambling to reach meaningful production volumes from its mines within four years, Swartz said, as more magnet and battery factories get built outside of China. Federal funding — for example the package of debt, price floors, and procurement guarantees that USA Rare Earth tapped last month to enable its $2.8 billion acquisition of a mine and processing facility in Brazil — is the only way to catch up with China, Swartz said: “It’s a 20- or 30-year problem that you’re trying to solve very quickly.”
