Weekly News Review August 24 – August 30 2026

For now, the news flow remains relatively subdued, but rare earth heavyweight Lynas has reported its latest results. – You can find the details and the latest developments from Brazil’s rare earths industry in our roundup for calendar week 35.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE MOVES TO SECURE BRAZILIAN RARE EARTHS:

The United States is stepping up efforts to secure access to rare earths produced by Serra Verde in Brazil. The Department of War will provide $750 million to a special-purpose vehicle that is set to purchase output from the Pela Ema mine under a long-term offtake arrangement.

The original commitment had been $500 million. Together with a bank credit facility of up to $500 million and a Defense Logistics Agency purchase commitment of at least $300 million, the overall structure totals $1.55 billion.

The latest move builds on earlier US support for Serra Verde. In February, the US International Development Finance Corporation committed $565 million in financing to the company.

In April, USA Rare Earth announced plans to acquire Serra Verde for around $2.8 billion. At the same time, a 15-year offtake agreement was announced covering Serra Verde’s Phase I production, including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. Completion of the new financing package clears an important condition for the proposed acquisition. The transaction is expected to close shortly after a USA Rare Earth shareholder vote scheduled for August 28.

BRAZIL: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN MINING AND MAGNET –

Australian mining company St George Mining is considering (PDF) the construction of a rare earths processing facility in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Together with Brazilian chemical and industrial company Lima & Pergher and the Minas Gerais authorities, the company plans to establish a processing center in Uberlândia.

The facility would process rare earth concentrates, mixed carbonates and oxalates into feedstocks for magnet production. According to St George, the center could process material from other deposits in Minas Gerais in addition to material from its Araxá project. A final investment decision has yet to be made. St George is targeting commissioning in 2030.

The project therefore targets the midstream segment of the rare earths industry, covering processing between mining and magnet production. The planned center could help close an important gap in Brazil’s rare earths value chain: Although the country holds the world’s second-largest rare earth reserves, its production of processed rare earths has remained relatively low so far.

AUSTRALIA: LYNAS REPORTS RECORD REVENUE AND SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN PROFIT:

Higher rare earth prices and increased sales volumes drove significantly stronger results for the Australian mining company in the fiscal year.

Lynas released its financial results (PDF) on Wednesday for the fiscal year ended June 2026. The leading rare earths producer outside China reported a net profit of around $160 million, up from just under US$6 million the previous year. Revenue also rose sharply to a record $702 million. In fiscal 2025, revenue stood at approximately US$400 million. Despite the record revenue, net profit fell short of expectations: according to Bloomberg, analysts expected an average of around $189 million.

According to Lynas, the second-half development was driven mainly by higher rare earth prices. The company also benefited, among other factors, from a higher proportion of heavy rare earths in its product mix.

These are also the first full-year results presented by Pol Le Roux as interim CEO. The former Chief Operating Officer took over the leadership of the company at the beginning of July from Amanda Lacaze, who stepped down after 12 years at the helm of Lynas. Lacaze, however, remains active in Australia’s resources sector: she has served as Chair of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) since the end of May and, since August 17, has also been an independent director on the board of the German-Australian lithium company Vulcan Energy Resources.