Army Signs Non-Binding Term Sheet With REalloys for a Heavy Rare Earth Processing Plant at Utah's Tooele Army Depot, Fox Business Reports
The proposed plant on about 200 acres would refine dysprosium and terbium, which China dominates. It is a term sheet, not a final lease, and still needs environmental reviews and permits. The company sees a Western supply chain by 2029 or 2030.
The Army and a U.S. rare earth company took a step Tuesday toward a processing plant on a Utah military base, Fox Business reports, as Washington looks for supplies of critical minerals outside China.
The deal. REalloys Inc. and the Army signed a non-binding term sheet laying out commercial terms for a possible lease at Tooele Army Depot. The plant would sit on about 200 acres and process and refine the heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium. Fox says they go into high-temperature permanent magnets used in precision-guided munitions, electric motors, sonar, radar and other defense systems. The step follows the company's selection for the Army's Strategic Capital Initiative in June.
The pitch. REalloys CEO Lipi Sternheim told Fox Business the project is about having "the goods that we need to keep the country running." She said a military base suits the company because it has the few hundred acres needed, not because Utah is uniquely strategic. She called it "a misnomer to think that it will happen overnight," but sees a path to a Western supply chain by 2029 or 2030. Jeff Waksman, a senior Army official for installations, energy and environment, said China holds "a near 100% global monopoly" on dysprosium and terbium, and that the Army can help build the industrial base "without putting any taxpayer dollars at risk."
What is next. The company and the Army must complete project conditions and negotiate a final lease. Environmental reviews and permitting come before the agreement is final. Fox notes there is no mine on the base, so the plant would process material, not dig it.
The deadline. Fox says a Defense Department rule takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, banning defense contractors from upstream sourcing of covered rare earths and magnets from countries including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. It applies only to defense firms.
What we could not check. The company's timeline and the Army's no-taxpayer-cost claim are statements from the parties and we have not verified them. A term sheet does not commit either side to build or lease.