Ionic Rare Earths, AML ink MoU for US permanent magnet supply  

Ionic Rare Earths (ASX: IXR) has signed binding sales agreements with Florida-based Advanced Magnet Lab to supply magnet rare earth oxides, specifically neodymium/praseodymium oxide and dysprosium oxide, under AML’s recently awarded US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) contract for domestically produced high-grade sintered NdFeB permanent magnets for defence applications.  

Both companies have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the collaboration on both the supply of magnet REOs and recycling of swarf and pre-consumer waste. 

The news is a step forward in IonicRE’s strategy to establish secure, sovereign, and sustainable rare earth supply chains across the US and Europe, while expanding the company’s global refining and magnet recycling footprint, it said. 

The partnership has the potential to support increasing requirements from the U.S. Department of War (DoW) linked to the ramp up of domestically manufactured military drone motors and other critical defence equipment requiring secure, traceable, and domestically sourced rare earth permanent magnets, amid increasing geopolitical instability, the companies said.  

Under the program, IonicRE will provide critical rare earth oxide feedstock to support AML’s PM-Wire manufacturing platform, designed to enable scalable, traceable, and high performance permanent magnet production in the United States.  

AML’s DLA-supported initiative includes alloy optimisation, advanced manufacturing development, and integrated supply chain collaboration across Western-aligned partners.  

“IonicRE’s patented, made-in-Belfast magnet recycling technology offers an innovative solution for the supply of magnet REOs, and 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,” IonicRE CEO Tim Harrison said in a news release. 

AML president Wade Senti added that the partnership will help ‘close the loop’ on supply for critical inputs to the US industrial base.