by WorldTribune Staff, April 20, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
A U.S.-based mining and manufacturing company focused on establishing a domestic supply chain for rare earth elements is set to purchase a Brazilian mining firm which focuses on large-scale production of all four magnetic rare earth elements.
USA Rare Earth Inc. is acquiring Brazil’s Serra Verde Group in a roughly $2.8 billion cash-and-stock deal, part of a broader push by the U.S. and its allies to secure independent supplies of critical minerals, reports say.
The deal comes amid rising concern over China’s dominance in rare earths which are essential for modern technologies ranging from smartphones to electric vehicles and military systems.
USA Rare Earths CEO Barbara Humpton noted: “The world has become too dependent on a single source and it’s high time to break that dependency.” She added that the acquisition provides “access to a producing mine that produces the four magnetic rare earths that are going to be serving our industry.”
Serra Verde Group is the lone producer of the four magnetic rare earths, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, outside of Asia.
The Serra Verde Group operates the large-scale Pela Ema ionic clay deposit in Brazil, which started production in 2024.
“Strategically, the acquisition accelerates USA Rare Earth’s goal of building a fully integrated supply chain spanning ‘mining, separation, metalization and magnet manufacturing.’ It also reflects a wider industry shift following China’s export restrictions, which exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains,” Zero Hedge noted.
Serra Verde CEO Thras Moraitis noted that Western governments are increasingly stepping in to support the sector as it reaches a “critical inflection point” in the effort to develop reliable, non-China sources—especially for scarce heavy rare earth elements.
The USA Rare Earths-Serra Verde Group agreement includes $300 million in cash and a large share issuance, with the transaction expected to close in the third quarter.
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