⚗️🇺🇸🧲 $66 million. U.S. Department of Energy. Phoenix Tailings. June 3, 2026. Washington just wrote one of its largest ever grants for rare earth separation to a company running technology that outcompetes China's legacy systems on every metric that matters. 🧵 What just happened The @ENERGY selected @PhoenixTailings for a $66 million grant — part of a $147.8 million program — to deploy next-generation rare earth separation and refining technology at commercial scale, partnered with MIT and the University of Minnesota. This is not a feasibility study. It is a commercial deployment grant for a company that already operates rare earth metallisation at commercial scale and is now scaling separation to match. "The United States will win at rare earth processing with American innovation that outcompetes the hazardous legacy systems used overseas." — Nicholas Myers, CEO, Phoenix Tailings Why Phoenix Tailings is different ⚙️ Phoenix Tailings does not replicate Chinese solvent extraction. Their proprietary mixed halide electrochemical bath runs at roughly 700°C — versus the 1,050°C required by conventional MSE — cutting energy consumption by 35–45%, eliminating perfluorocarbon emissions (PFCs), and producing zero toxic chemical waste byproducts. They process a diverse range of domestic feedstocks: monazite, bastnäsite, ionic clay concentrates, tailings — exactly the kind of mixed, variable feed that trips up conventional hydromet processes. That flexibility is what makes the DoE bet so strategic. Their three core technology pillars backing this program: 🔬 Advanced chemistry — low-temperature, low-emissions separation chemistry 🏭 Industrial hardware — proprietary electrochemical reactors, not mixer-settlers 💻 Digital infrastructure — AI process control and real-time optimisation x.com/roblun1/status/2056749… globenewswire.com/news-relea… @PhoenixTailings #PhoenixTailings #DepartmentofEnergy #DoE #RareEarths #CriticalMinerals #REO #NdPr #Dysprosium #Terbium #MoltenSaltElectrolysis #Separation #Metallisation #AdvancedMagnetLab #NdFeB #DLA @wsenti @IONIC_RE @MomentumTP

🧲⚗️ The Step Nobody Talks About — But Everything Depends On Between a barrel of rare earth oxide and a working magnet sits the most strategically critical — and most geopolitically controlled — step in the entire chain. Metallisation. REO → Metal. It's where China wins. China controls 91–95% of global rare earth metallisation capacity. It's not geology. It's 30 years of state-backed industrial scale, cheap energy, and deliberately suppressed competition. Here's why it splits into two completely different processes — and why you can't just pick one: 🧵 ⚡ PROCESS 1 — Molten Salt Electrolysis (MSE) 🔬The Heavy Lifter for Light REEs: Nd, Pr, NdPr REO dissolves into a fluoride salt bath at ~1,050°C. Apply direct current. Nd³⁺ ions reduce at the cathode. Liquid neodymium pools at the base. Gravity separates it from the slag. That's the Nd going into your EV motor magnet. Light Rare Earths (LREEs)Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr), Cerium (Ce), Lanthanum (La), ⚗️Molten Salt Electrolysis (MSE) Low elemental melting points; total absence of stable RE^{2 } redox cycling; high Faradaic current efficiency. Western reality check: 🇬🇧 LCM (Ellesmere Port, UK) — the only non-Chinese-owned commercial MSE facility in the Western world. Expanding from 2 cells → 6 cells → 330 tpa NdPr. 🇺🇸 Phoenix Tailings (Woburn, MA) — proprietary mixed halide bath at ~700°C (vs 1,050°C standard). Zero PFCs. Zero toxic byproducts. 35–45% less energy. Fed by mining waste tailings. Targeting 3,000 tonnes by 2026. 🔥 PROCESS 2 — Metallothermic Reduction 🔬The Precision Tool for Heavy REEs: Dy, Tb, Sm You cannot electrolyse dysprosium. Or terbium. Or samarium. Their chemistry breaks the electrolytic cell — stable 2 oxidation states cycle ions back to the anode without depositing metal. Faradaic efficiency collapses to near zero. So instead: fluoride the oxide → load anhydrous fluoride calcium metal into a tantalum crucible → seal in vacuum induction furnace → heat to ~1,500°C → calcium strips fluorine → liquid Dy/Tb metal sinks, CaF₂ slag floats → separate → vacuum purify to >99.9%. For samarium: lanthanum reduction-distillation — Sm vaporises under vacuum and condenses as pure crystalline metal on water-cooled baffles. Every gram of SmCo magnet in every defence platform in the world was made this way. Heavy Rare Earths (HREEs) Terbium (Tb), Dysprosium (Dy), Gadolinium (Gd), Yttrium (Y) ⚗️Calciothermic Reduction High elemental melting points; strict requirement for high purity in magnetostrictive and high-coercivity applications. High Vapor Pressure & Variable Valence Rare Earths, Samarium (Sm), Europium (Eu), Ytterbium (Yb), Thulium (Tm)Lanthanothermic Reduction (Reduction-Distillation) Western reality check: 🇬🇧 LCM — added DyFe and Tb commercial production in 2023. Also the only company worldwide operating solid-state SmCo co-reduction commercially. 🇺🇸 REalloys (Euclid, Ohio) — scaling the largest HREE metallisation facility outside China, targeting 30t Dy 15t Tb pa from SRC Saskatchewan feed. 🗺️ Why This Is the Strategic Chokepoint Japan has 50% of Western NdFeB patents. But without Dy and Tb — which flow through Chinese metallisation — those patents cannot be exercised at premium performance. The West has mines. It's building separation. But metallisation — REO to metal — is the missing link that still runs 91–95% through China. LCM and Phoenix Tailings are the West's real answer. Small now. Scaling fast. Every tonne they produce is a tonne that doesn't need a Beijing licence. 📊 See infographic for full process comparison. Video from LCM in the thread, coming soon l 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇺🇸🧲 @LCM_Metals @PhoenixTailings @realloys #RareEarths #Metallisation #NdFeB #Dysprosium #Terbium #Samarium #MoltenSaltElectrolysis #MetallothermicReduction #LCM #LessCommonMetals #PhoenixTailings #REalloys #CriticalMinerals #SupplyChain #WesternSupplyChain #DFARS #NationalSecurity #EV #EVMagnets #DefenceMagnets #SmCo #NdPr #HREE #LREE #MagnetMetallisation #LCM #MagnetRecycling #AdvancedMagnetLab 🔬⚗️🧲🌏

🛡️🧲 The Magnets Inside the World's Most Advanced Warplanes — And Why They Are America's Biggest Vulnerability Look at that F-35 diagram carefully. Four control surfaces labelled: Trailing Edge Flap. Aileron. Rudder. Horizontal Tail. Every single one of them moves via an Electrohydrostatic Actuator (EHA) driven by a rare earth permanent magnet brushless DC motor. This is not a minor component. This is primary flight control. Without it, the aircraft cannot fly. 🧵👇 ✈️ HOW AN EHA ACTUALLY WORKS — AND WHERE THE MAGNET IS The F-35 was a watershed moment in aviation history — it replaced traditional centralised hydraulic systems with fully distributed Electrohydrostatic Actuators. Each EHA sits directly at the control surface it drives — at the rudder, at the aileron, at the horizontal tail, at the trailing edge flap. When the pilot or fly-by-wire computer sends a command: 1️⃣ A rare earth permanent magnet brushless DC motor inside the EHA receives electrical power 2️⃣ The motor spins a local hydraulic pump at precise speed — no central hydraulic lines running the length of the aircraft 3️⃣ The pump pressurises a self-contained fluid circuit 4️⃣ That pressure drives a hydraulic ram that physically deflects the control surface 5️⃣ The surface moves. The aircraft turns. The magnet is the first mover in this entire chain. Remove it — or degrade it — and the surface doesn't move. The aircraft loses control authority. The magnet is the first mover in this entire chain. Remove it — or degrade it — and the surface doesn't move. The aircraft loses control authority. 🧲 WHICH MAGNETS. WHICH RARE EARTHS. Two magnet classes dominate airframe actuation: 🔷 NdFeB (Neodymium-Iron-Boron) — highest power density of any permanent magnet class. Used in EHA motors throughout the F-35's primary flight control system. Requires Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb. Heavy rare earths — specifically dysprosium — are added at grain boundaries via GBD (grain boundary diffusion) to maintain coercivity at the elevated temperatures inside an operating actuator motor. 🔷 SmCo (Samarium-Cobalt) — used where temperatures are extreme — turbomachinery, engine-mounted generators, aerospace actuators operating near exhaust or hot-section bleed air. Superior thermal stability above 150°C. Requires Sm and Co. The F-35 uses both. NdFeB across primary flight control EHAs. SmCo in the Honeywell turbomachine — the engine-mounted starter/generator that provides electrical power to every system on the aircraft. ⚠️ THE INCIDENT THAT PROVES THE VULNERABILITY IS REAL — NOT THEORETICAL In September 2022, the Pentagon suspended all F-35 deliveries. Not due to a design flaw. Not due to a software problem. Not due to enemy action. Due to a single SmCo magnet in the Honeywell turbomachine — one component — that was found to contain cobalt-samarium alloy sourced from China, in violation of DFARS. Lockheed Martin confirmed: "A magnet in the F-35's Honeywell-made turbomachine was recently discovered to have been made with cobalt and samarium alloy that came from China." Deliveries of the most advanced fighter aircraft in history — halted. Over one magnet. Weighing a few hundred grams. The investigation found Chinese-sourced material had passed through multiple supplier tiers before anyone detected it. This is not a hypothetical supply chain risk. It already happened. The U.S. Air Force grounded delivery of its frontline fighter over rare earth provenance. This is precisely why DFARS 252.225-7052 goes into full statutory effect January 1, 2027 — and why every tier of the defence supply chain must now trace rare earth origin from mine to finished component. 🚀 THE B-2 SPIRIT — BUILT TO EVADE RADAR, CONSTRAINED BY THE PERIODIC TABLE The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is a different architecture — no vertical tail surfaces at all. Every directional control comes from differential thrust and split drag rudders embedded in the flying wing. But the magnet dependency is, if anything, deeper. The B-2's entire survivability rests on: Radar-absorbent structural materials incorporating rare earth compounds Actuators driving the split drag rudders and elevons — the only flight control surfaces on the aircraft APQ-181 phased-array radar — radar travelling wave tubes using rare earth magnets to focus microwave energy Thermal barrier coatings on hot section turbine components — yttria-stabilised zirconia requiring yttrium The EWI DoD assessment states it directly: "Actuators for flight control surfaces of aircraft, including flaps, rudder, and ailerons" — and "Thermal barrier coatings (yttria-stabilized zirconia) in 'hot' sections of jet engines." A B-2 without a functioning rare earth supply chain is a B-2 that cannot be manufactured, maintained, or repaired at operational tempo. 🌍 THE SUPPLY CHAIN GEOMETRY UNDERNEATH BOTH AIRCRAFT China controls ~90% of rare earth oxide-to-metal conversion and ~90–94% of global permanent magnet production. Every NdFeB and SmCo magnet installed in an F-35 EHA or B-2 actuator traces back — unless explicitly verified otherwise — through a supply chain that runs through Chinese processing. The 2022 F-35 magnet halt proved the verification fails in practice. The DFARS deadline mandates it cannot fail after January 2027. The rare earth elements powering these actuators: Nd Pr → motor magnetic flux generation Dy Tb → high-temperature coercivity retention (grain boundary diffusion) Sm Co → turbomachine thermal stability Y → thermal barrier coatings on jet engine hot sections Every single one: China controls the separation and metallization of all of them at commercial scale today. 🔑 WHY THE ACTUATOR IS THE CRITICAL NODE — NOT THE AIRFRAME Rare Earth Exchanges put it precisely: "Modern warfare is increasingly constrained not by weapons design but by the availability of materials. A precision-strike campaign can burn through munitions faster than supply chains can replenish them. And those supply chains hinge on components measured not in tons — but in grams of dysprosium." The F-35 diagram at the top of this post shows four labelled control surfaces. Each one moves via an EHA. Each EHA has a permanent magnet motor at its core. Approximately 900 lbs of NdFeB and SmCo magnets are embedded across a single F-35 airframe. 900 lbs of magnets. One halted delivery programme. Seven rare earth elements. One country controls the processing of all of them. The flight control system is only as sovereign as the magnets inside it. And those magnets are only as sovereign as the rare earth supply chain that produced them. 🧲⚙️ MAGNETS IN DEFENSE: THE HIDDEN HARDWARE BEHIND MODERN WEAPONS Everywhere you look in today’s battlefield there is software and guidance code. But none of it moves a fin, steers a bomb or shapes a radar beam without magnets. Rare-earth magnets. 🎯 ACTUATORS — WHERE SOFTWARE MEETS AERODYNAMICS Precision‑guided munitions: • Cruise missiles and SLAM‑class weapons use samarium‑cobalt / NdFeB motors in mid‑body fin actuators to turn guidance commands into hard G‑loads on target. • JDAM tail kits bolt NdFeB‑based actuators onto “dumb” bombs (GBU‑29/30/31/32/35/38), turning gravity bombs into GPS‑guided PGMs. • GPS‑aided munitions like the GBU‑36/37 bunker‑busters rely on rare‑earth tail kits for course correction all the way to impact.👇 Further reading here 👇 x.com/roblun1/status/2040375… 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇺🇸🧲✈️ 📌 Attach: F-35 control surface actuator diagram (provided below) 📌 Attach: TAAC Flight Control Actuators YouTube Video 📌 Attach: Inside The World's Most Powerful Stealth Bomber YouTube Video Sources: Van den Hurk Critical Minerals Analysis Metal Tech News 2025 · USAF B-2 Fact Sheet roblun1 | X ✈️#RareEarths #F35 #B2Spirit #StealthBomber #PermanentMagnets #NdFeB #SmCo #FlightControl #EHA #ElectroHydrostaticActuator #Dysprosium #Terbium #Samarium #CriticalMinerals #DFARS #NationalSecurity #DefenceSupplyChain #WesternSupplyChain #MagnetActuators #AerospaceDefence #ChineseMagnets #SupplyChainSecurity #Lockheed #F35JointStrikeFighter #Honeywell #IXR #IonicRareEarths #IonicTechnologies #MagnetRecycling #AdvancedMagnetLab #DLA 🛡️🧲✈️🇺🇸

🇺🇸🧲⚡ The U.S. just funded the domestic rare earth magnet supply chain it desperately needs — and @IONIC_RE $IXR is named as a key partner. Florida-based Advanced Magnet Lab (AML) has secured a USD$2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) — a two-year programme to qualify domestically produced, high-grade sintered NdFeB permanent magnets for U.S. military and commercial applications. The contract covers supply chain management, alloy composition optimisation for grades including N48SH and N35EH, and full-scale industrialisation using AML's proprietary PM-Wire™ manufacturing platform — a process engineered to simplify and scale permanent magnet production with end-to-end traceability that defence contractors and OEMs are now mandating. AML's named REO supply partners under the programme include Ionic Rare Earths $IXR, Phoenix Tailings and Momentum — three Western-aligned suppliers collectively representing the most credible ex-China rare earth oxide supply stack currently available to a U.S. magnet manufacturer. And IXR's role goes deeper still — today's separate ASX announcement confirms binding sales of (NdPr)₂O₃ and Dy₂O₃ already delivered to AML, with a second binding sale now executing, and a non-binding MOU for long-term closed-loop collaboration including AML swarf returned to IXR for recycling back to REOs. For context on why this matters: by 2027, Chinese rare earth content must be completely removed from U.S. weapons systems under DFARS. AML is building the domestic qualification pathway. The DLA is funding it. IXR is supplying the oxides — made in Belfast, from recycled Western magnets, at >99.9% purity. This is what sovereign supply chain construction looks like when it stops being a talking point and starts being a purchase order. 🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 mugglehead.com/advanced-magn… #AdvancedMagnetLab #AML #IonicRareEarths #IXR #DLA #DefenseLogisticsAgency #RareEarths #CriticalMinerals #NdFeB #PermanentMagnets #PMWire #DFARS #WesternSupplyChain #MagnetManufacturing #NdPr #Dysprosium #USDefence #SovereignCapability #CircularEconomy #MagnetRecycling #CriticalMineralsSupplyChain #EVMagnets

🇦🇺🇺🇸⚡ The loop just closed. IXR Official Announcement @IONIC_RE $IXR has signed binding sales agreements AND an MOU with U.S.-based Advanced Magnet Lab (AML) — supplying Belfast-made NdPr and Dy oxides directly into U.S. defence permanent magnet manufacturing. This is the announcement that changes IXR's story from refiner to defence supply chain participant. 🧵👇 ✅ Binding Sale #1 — (NdPr)₂O₃ and Dy₂O₃ already supplied to AML. Not an MOU. Not a letter of intent. Delivered. ✅ Binding Sale #2 — Second binding sale of separated magnet REOs now executing 🤝 Non-binding MOU — Long-term collaboration framework covering: Ongoing IXR REO supply to AML for magnet manufacturing AML swarf and pre-consumer waste returned to IXR for recycling → back to REOs → back to AML The binding sales are the commercial proof. The MOU is the architectural blueprint for the full closed loop to follow. Who AML Is and Why This Matters for Defence Advanced Magnet Lab's PM-Wire™ platform is a proprietary process for scalable, traceable, high-performance permanent magnet manufacturing — designed specifically to address the U.S. industrial base's critical dependence on Chinese magnet supply. AML just received a US$2 million U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) contract for qualification of domestically produced sintered NdFeB permanent magnets for defence systems — with IXR named explicitly as the key supplier of (NdPr)₂O₃ and Dy₂O₃ under that contract. 🎯 The end use: military drone motors and other critical defence equipment By 2027, Chinese rare earth content must be completely removed from U.S. weapons systems under existing DFARS regulations. AML is building the domestic magnet qualification pathway. IXR is supplying the oxides. The DLA is funding the qualification. All three pieces are now in place. The Quotes That Matter Wade Senti, President of AML: "This evolving partnership will help 'close the loop' on supply for critical inputs to the U.S. industrial base." Tim Harrison, IXR CEO: "Working with several Western magnet manufacturers, and now AML, we are building an integrated, ex-China rare earth supply chain across the Western world and beyond." Brett Lynch, IXR Executive Chairman: "We are proud to be supporting U.S. efforts to achieve independence in rare earth supply, showing the benefits of the U.S.-Australia critical minerals partnership that is empowering both nations in the race for secure and sustainable ex-China rare earth supply chains." Three executives. One message. The supply chain is being built — and product is already shipping. The Big Picture China controls 85% of global rare earth refining. By 2027, Chinese content must be removed from U.S. weapons systems entirely. IXR today: ✅ Only Western plant outside China separating all four magnet REOs (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) simultaneously at >99.9% purity ✅ Binding supply agreements with a DLA-contracted U.S. defence magnet manufacturer ✅ Closed-loop swarf recycling agreement — the first circular REE defence supply chain in the Western world ✅ FORGE-designated strategically significant project ✅ £12M UK Government capital grant offer in principle for 400 tpa commercial scale-up ✅ US-Australia Critical Minerals Framework aligned The dots are connected. The product is shipping. The loop is closed. $IXR 🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 @IONIC_RE @IONICTECH_UK @wsenti @timhorizonmet #DyTb #HREO @PhoenixTailings @momentustech #IonicRareEarths #IXR #RareEarths #CriticalMinerals #AdvancedMagnetLab #AML #DLA #Defence #NdFeB #PermanentMagnets #DFARS #WesternSupplyChain #MagnetRecycling #CircularEconomy #NdPr #Dysprosium #SovereignCapability #PMWire #MilitaryDrones #USDefence #AustraliaUSA #FORGE

Just watched “How AML Is Reinventing Permanent Magnet Motors” on the Munro Live Podcast – must‑watch if you care about magnets, motors or rare earth supply chains. ⚙️🧲 This isn’t some random YouTube channel. Sandy Munro is the “Teardown Titan” – an automotive engineer who’s spent decades tearing down and benchmarking vehicles for OEMs and defence, from Ford and GM through to every major EV (Tesla, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, etc.). His firm, Munro & Associates, is a world‑leading lean design and reverse‑engineering consultancy, known for deep cost, manufacturability and supply‑chain analysis. 🧠🔧 AML’s PM‑Wire™ process isn’t just another magnet tweak – it lets you print custom‑shaped, non‑sintered and sintered magnets with precisely controlled magnetisation patterns, co‑located with motor makers and defence primes. That means less waste, more design freedom, and a direct path to scaling domestic magnet capacity for EVs, defence and generators. 🇺🇸⚡ When you combine this with the planned MITUS ramp (hundreds of mtpa today heading towards thousands of mtpa in the US alone), you can see how fast pre‑consumer swarf volumes will explode – and why magnet recyclers like Ionic Technologies/IXR are positioning next to these growth nodes with MAIL Nth Cycle to close the loop. 🔁♻️ The video highlights AML’s innovative process, which enables magnets with a rotating magnetization vector. This breakthrough creates a smooth, sinusoidal magnetic field—delivering motors that run quieter, more efficiently, and with improved overall performance compared to traditional block-magnet designs. So when Munro sits down with Advanced Magnet Lab to talk PM‑Wire™ and next‑gen permanent magnet motors, it’s not hype – it’s a serious engineering review of how to scale domestic magnet manufacturing. AML’s process prints custom‑shaped magnets with tightly controlled magnetisation patterns, co‑located with motor and defence clients, cutting waste and enabling a US‑based magnet pipeline. 🇺🇸⚡ leandesign.com/ Link this to MITUS ramping from hundreds of mtpa to thousands of mtpa, and you quickly see the wave of pre‑consumer swarf that’s coming – exactly the kind of high‑grade feedstock that advanced recyclers like Ionic Technologies (IXR) are designing MAIL Nth Cycle around. Design at Munro/AML closed‑loop separation at IXR is how you build a real mine‑to‑magnet ecosystem in the West. 🔁♻️ 🎧 Podcast: “How AML Is Reinventing Permanent Magnet Motors | Munro Live Podcast” @PhoenixTailings @IONIC_RE @IONICTECH_UK @wsenti @live_munro @momentustech #AML #AdvancedMagnetLab #IonicRareEarths #IonicTechnologies #IXR #DLA #DefenseLogisticsAgency #PMWire #NdFeB #N48SH #N35EH #Dysprosium #NdPr #CriticalMinerals #RareEarth #MunroLive #LeanDesign #AML #Magnets #RareEarths #EV #Defense #SupplyChain #MITUS #IXR #IonicTechnologies #Recycling #Onshoring #EnergyTransition

⚗️🇺🇸 Meet Momentum Technologies — the Dallas company quietly building the most important piece of America's rare earth puzzle that almost nobody is talking about They just became a named AML/DLA supply chain partner. Here's why that matters enormously. 🎬 Watch how MSX works: 👇 📋 WHO IS MOMENTUM? Momentum Technologies — Carrollton, Texas (Dallas metro) Founded by: Preston Bryant CEO: Mahesh Konduru Their origin story is different to every other critical minerals startup: MSX — Membrane Solvent Extraction — was co-developed with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), then scaled with funding from both the DOE and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). 🔬 WHAT IS MSX — AND WHY IS IT DIFFERENT? Every major REE separation process today uses one of two approaches: 1. ❌ Solvent Extraction (SX) — works, but requires enormous centralised mega-plants, toxic solvents, high capex, complex waste streams 2. ❌ Pyrometallurgy — high temperature, high energy, poor selectivity MSX is neither. It's a third pathway: Membrane Solvent Extraction combines the selectivity of solvent extraction with a membrane barrier — enabling: ✅ Modular, decentralised processing — co-locate with the waste generator ✅ 95% recovery rates across REEs, Li, Co, Ni, Cu ✅ 99% product purity — commercial-grade output ✅ Lower emissions than pyrometallurgy or conventional SX ✅ No mega-plant required — scales block-by-block ⚙️ THE THREE MSX PROCESS BLOCKS Every MSX system runs through three sequential stages: MSX-PREX → Pre-treatment: dissolve feedstock, remove easy contaminants MSX-C (Core) → Selective membrane separation: Iron out, then Cu, Co, Ni, Li, REEs — each captured in sequence MSX-POSTX → Post-treatment: convert to final product phase, package for sale The core block is replicated in series to scale throughput — no new engineering required, just more modules. 🎯 THE FEEDSTOCK FLEXIBILITY — THE REAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE This is where Momentum separates from every other US REE processor: MSX processes all of the following simultaneously: 🔋 Battery black mass (Li, Co, Ni, Cu) 🧲 Magnet swarf (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb, Sm) ⛏️ Mining tailings (mixed REEs, low grade) 🏭 Production scrap (mixed industrial waste) One platform. One facility. Multiple feedstock types. Multiple product streams. That is an economics game-changer — the same plant that recycles EV batteries also recycles magnet manufacturing waste and produces NdPr oxides for new magnets. businesswire.com/news/home/2… 🏛️ GOVERNMENT CREDENTIALS — UNUSUALLY DEEP Most critical minerals startups have one or two government grants. Momentum has a multi-agency, decade-long track record: 📌 2018: DOE Technology Commercialization Fund — funded 20 kg/day pilot unit 📌 2020: DLA Oak Ridge National Lab — joint funding to prove Dy separation from lighter REEs 📌 2025: White House-convened summit — Momentum CEO joined rare earth stakeholders at the White House to discuss supply chain reshoring 📌 2025: US House Committee on Natural Resources — CEO Mahesh Konduru testified before Congress on critical minerals processing solutions 📌 2026: AML DLA contract — named as strategic NdPr oxide supplier alongside IXR From lab bench at Oak Ridge → Congressional testimony → Pentagon supply chain. That is a credibility arc that most startups never achieve. 🔗 THE SUPPLY CHAIN POSITION In the AML/DLA announcement last week, three REO suppliers were named: 🔵 Phoenix Tailings — Nd, Pr, Dy metals 🔴 Ionic Rare Earths (ASX: IXR) — Nd, Pr, Dy oxides (recycled, Belfast) 🟡 Momentum — Nd, Pr oxides (MSX-processed, Carrollton TX) IXR and Momentum are complementary Momentum processes domestic US magnet swarf and tailings → NdPr oxides IXR processes European recycled feedstock → NdPr Dy₂O₃ (the critical heavy REE) Momentum's MSX currently focuses on light REEs (NdPr) from domestic US sources. IXR's MAIL™ delivers both light and heavy REEs — including the Dy that AML's N48SH and N35EH grades specifically require. Together they cover the full REO oxide basket that AML needs — from two non-Chinese sources, on two continents. Closer look at the MSX technology, coming soon 📌 Sources: BusinessWire Oct 2025 | momentum.technology/solution… | GlobeNewswire May 19 2026 🔗 momentum.technology #MomentumTechnologies #MSX #MembraneSolventExtraction #RareEarths #CriticalMinerals #REE #Dysprosium #Neodymium #Praseodymium #MagnetSwarf #BatteryRecycling #OakRidgeNationalLab #DLA #DOE #CarrolltonTexas #Dallas #SovereignSupplyChain #MadeInAmerica #NonChina #IonicRareEarths #IonicTechnologies #IXR #PhoenixTailings #AML #AdvancedMagnetLab #NdFeB #Modular #CircularEconomy #NationalSecurity #EnergyIndependence #SupplyChain #CriticalMineralsStrategy #ASX #Congress #WhiteHouse

🧲🇺🇸 Meet the 30-year-old Florida lab that just became a backbone of US permanent magnet sovereignty Advanced Magnet Lab. Founded 1995. Started in particle accelerators. Today: $2M DLA defence contract, named IXR as a strategic supplier, and a 10,000 tpa roadmap. Here's why AML is different to every other Western magnet hopeful. 🧵 🔬 THE PROCESS — PM-WIRE™ Every other sintered NdFeB manufacturer uses the same 50-year-old process: Strip cast → jet mill → die press → sinter → machine AML threw that out entirely. CEO Wade Senti's insight: "We came up with a concept for producing permanent magnets in a process very similar to how you produce superconducting wire." PM-Wire™ is continuous, automated, and adaptable — not a batch process. It can produce helical, radial, axial and curved magnets that conventional sintering physically cannot make. And it works with multiple magnet materials — not just NdFeB. MATERIAL FLEXIBILITY — THE REAL MOAT This is where AML departs from every competitor: Most Western magnet startups are racing to replicate Chinese NdFeB at scale. AML is building beyond NdFeB: 🔵 Sintered NdFeB — N48SH, N35EH for defence (DLA-qualified) 🟣 Samarium Iron Nitride (SmFeN) — scaling fastest, defence & aerospace 🟡 Manganese Bismuth (MnBi) — entering OEM qualification — zero rare earths 🟢 (Mischmetal-Nd)FeB — lower critical REE content, full input traceability 🔴 Anisotropic bonded NdFeB — flexible geometries MnBi in particular: no Nd, no Dy, no Tb — completely bypasses the Chinese chokepoint for specific applications. Senti: "Innovative permanent magnet technology can perform with a large variety of different critical minerals — not just neodymium — giving America more optionality and tools in supply chain security." 📈 PROJECT MITUS — "MAGNETS IN THE U.S." AML's scaling roadmap is phased and credible — already partially funded: see info in provided image 🏛️ GOVERNMENT TRACK RECORD — 30 YEARS DEEP AML is not a startup chasing its first government contract. It has been funded by the US government for over a decade: 1. US Department of Energy — multiple programmes, electrical machines & magnets 2. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) — pilot manufacturing line build-out (2022) 3. US Department of War / DLA — sintered magnet manufacturing programmes since 2020 4. DLA 2026 contract — $2M, 2-year, N48SH and N35EH qualification — announced May 19, 2026 When the DLA keeps coming back to the same small Florida lab for 6 years, that is signal — not noise. 🔑 THE HONEST CAVEAT — AND WHY IT MATTERS Senti said something in Mining.com that almost no Western magnet CEO will say publicly: "People like to talk about getting out of China, but is it fully doable? Probably not in this lifetime." He's talking about raw material traceability once concentrates leave mine sites. The real answer isn't to eliminate China entirely — it's to reduce critical dependencies at the high-value nodes: separation and magnet manufacturing. That's exactly what AML IXR Phoenix Tailings are building together. 🔄 THE IXR CONNECTION — IN AML'S OWN WORDS From yesterday's DLA press release — AML named IXR explicitly: "Ionic Rare Earths Limited — a miner, refiner and recycler of sustainable and traceable magnet and heavy rare earths, rapidly expanding their magnet recycling footprint across Europe and the US — will serve as a strategic supplier of NdPr and Dy oxides." The supply chain closing in real time: 🇦🇺 IXR mines & separates → 🇬🇧 Belfast produces Dy₂O₃ & NdPr₂O₃ → 🇺🇸 AML alloys manufactures → 🇺🇸 DLA qualifies for US defence Zero Chinese nodes. US defence-contracted. Operational today. 💬 "We are at a true turning point for the U.S. rare earth magnet industry." — Wade Senti, President & CEO, Advanced Magnet Lab, May 19, 2026 📌 Sources: Mining.com feature Dec 2025 | GlobeNewswire May 19 2026 | mitusmagnets.com 🔗 mining.com/reimagining-magne… 🔗 mitusmagnets.com/about 🔗mining.com/reimagining-magne… 🔗mining.com/op-ed-permanent-m… @wsenti @PhoenixTailings @IONIC_RE @IONICTECH_UK #AML #AdvancedMagnetLab #ProjectMITUS #PMWire #NdFeB #SmFeN #MnBi #RareEarths #PermanentMagnets #IonicRareEarths #IonicTechnologies #IXR #PhoenixTailings #DLA #DefenseLogisticsAgency #DIU #CriticalMinerals #Dysprosium #Neodymium #SovereignSupplyChain #MadeInAmerica #NonChina #Defence #EVs #WindTurbines #Drones #Aerospace #MagnetInnovation #SupplyChain #N48SH #N35EH #Belfast #Florida #ASX

📋 What This Story Is About — The Plain English Summary Advanced Magnet Lab (AML) is a small private Florida-based company with a novel magnet manufacturing process called PM-Wire™ — a continuous, automated method for making sintered NdFeB magnets that is designed to be rapidly industrialised. Today, the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) — the Pentagon's procurement arm — awarded them a $2 million, 2-year contract to qualify 100% domestically-made high-grade sintered NdFeB magnets for defence use. The specific grades being qualified are N48SH and N35EH — both HREE-containing high-temperature grades that defence systems require. The IXR connection — named explicitly in the press release: Ionic Rare Earths Limited is listed as a strategic supplier of NdPr and Dy oxides to AML for this programme. This is not speculation or inference — IXR is named by name alongside Phoenix Tailings and Momentum as the feedstock supply chain for the DLA contract. 🇺🇸🧲 BREAKING — US Defense Logistics Agency awards $2M contract to qualify 100% US-made high-grade NdFeB magnets for defence Advanced Magnet Lab (AML), Melbourne, Florida. Contract duration: 2 years. Grades being qualified: N48SH and N35EH. If those grade names look familiar — they should. SH = 150°C working temperature. EH = 200°C working temperature. Both require Dysprosium. Both are the grades China is choking. 🔬 WHAT IS PM-WIRE™? AML's manufacturing process is fundamentally different from conventional sintered NdFeB production. Traditional sintered NdFeB: batch process, strip casting, jet milling, die pressing — slow, capital intensive, difficult to retool. PM-Wire™: Continuous and automated by design. Built for rapid industrialisation. Adaptable to unique magnet configurations — helical, radial, axial — that conventional sintering cannot easily achieve. The DLA isn't just qualifying a magnet. It's qualifying a manufacturing process as a backbone of US domestic permanent magnet production. AML's own words: "PM-Wire™ is built for rapid industrialization within an existing magnet making framework." The Pentagon wants this process qualified and production-ready. That tells you everything about their timeline urgency. The DLA is technically a Defense Department combat support agency, not Pentagon headquarters directly. It is fully accurate to call it US government / US defence. 📦 THE SUPPLY CHAIN BEHIND THE CONTRACT AML named their feedstock suppliers explicitly in today's announcement: 🔵 Phoenix Tailings (USA) — NdPr and Dy metals phoenixtailings.com/ 🔴 Ionic Rare Earths Limited (ASX: IXR) — NdPr and Dy oxides — "miner, refiner and recycler of sustainable and traceable magnet and heavy rare earths, rapidly expanding their magnet recycling footprint across Europe and the US" ionicre.com/ 🟡 Momentum (Dallas, TX) — NdPr oxides via MSX refining platform momentum.technology/ Read that IXR description carefully — it's not boilerplate. "Rapidly expanding their magnet recycling footprint across Europe and the US." That is AML's own characterisation of IXR in a US government defence contract announcement. 🎯 WHY THIS MATTERS — THE FOUR LAYERS Layer 1 — Validation The DLA does not award qualification contracts to unproven suppliers. IXR's inclusion as a named strategic REO supplier in a Pentagon-adjacent programme is independent third-party validation of their product quality and supply credibility. Layer 2 — The Grade Specificity N48SH and N35EH are not commodity grades. N48SH sits in the EV motor and industrial servo tier. N35EH at 200°C working temperature is aerospace and defence-grade — missiles, radar systems, drones. These are exactly the grades that China's Dy/Tb export controls are surgically targeting. Layer 3 — The US Footprint IXR's announcement describes them as expanding their recycling footprint "across Europe and the US." The DLA contract provides the commercial anchor for a US-side supply relationship — not just Belfast. Layer 4 — Phoenix Tailings Is in the Same Programme Phoenix Tailings — one of the best-funded US rare earth startups — supplies metals. IXR supplies oxides. They are complementary, not competing, in the same DLA supply chain. This is the Western rare earth supply consortium forming in real time. 🔄 THE SUPPLY CHAIN IS NOW VISIBLE END-TO-END 🇦🇺 IXR → 🇬🇧 Ionic Technologies separates Dy₂O₃, NdPr₂O₃ (Belfast) → 🇺🇸 AML alloys manufactures N48SH/N35EH via PM-Wire™ (Florida) → 🇺🇸 DLA qualifies for US defence platforms Zero Chinese nodes. Pentagon-contracted. Named and documented today. 💬 "We are at a true turning point for the U.S. rare earth magnet industry." — Wade Senti, President, Advanced Magnet Lab — May 19, 2026 📌 Source: GlobeNewswire — Advanced Magnet Lab press release, May 19, 2026 🔗 globenewswire.com/news-relea… @PhoenixTailings @IONIC_RE @IONICTECH_UK @momentustech #AML #AdvancedMagnetLab #IonicRareEarths #IonicTechnologies #IXR #DLA #DefenseLogisticsAgency #PMWire #NdFeB #N48SH #N35EH #Dysprosium #NdPr #CriticalMinerals #RareEarths #PhoenixTailings #Momentum #Defence #Pentagon #DomesticSupplyChain #SovereignMagnets #EVs #Aerospace #Drones #Missiles #Belfast #Florida #MadeInAmerica #ExportControls #China #SupplyChain #ASX #IXR