Name of the Project
Round Top rare earth elements project.

Location
The pilot process plant will be built in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, in the US, to separate and purify rare earths and other tech metals leached from ore from the project.

Project Owner/s
Texas Mineral Resources Corp and USA Rare Earth (USAR). The latter has an option to earn and acquire an 80% interest in the project from Texas Mineral Resources.

Project Description
Round Top is regarded as the richest known US source of heavy rare-earth elements, gallium and beryllium, and forms the foundation of USAR’s integrated mine-to-magnet strategy.

The project envisages a processing rate of 20 000 t/d, or 7.3-million tons a year, of rhyolite.

All minerals processing on site will be undertaken using continuous ion exchange and ion chromatography processing to generate high-purity rare-earth oxides (REOs), as well as technology metals and industrial minerals. REO production will average 2 312 t/y.

The Round Top deposit hosts 16 of the 17 rare-earth elements, plus other high-value tech minerals, including lithium, and is well located to serve US demand.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $1.56-billion and an internal rate of return of 70%, with a payback of 1.4 years.

Capital Expenditure
$350.4-million.

Planned Start/End Date
USA Rare Earth reported on December 11 that it will bring forward commercial production at its rare earths project to late 2028 from 2030, citing faster-than-expected progress at its processing facilities and rising US demand for critical minerals.

Latest Developments
USAR has brought forward the commercialisation schedule for the project, with production now targeted for late 2028 – two years earlier than previously planned. 

The broader value chain includes a 28 800 m² magnet manufacturing plant under development in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is set to become the largest metal-and-alloy and strip-casting facility outside China, as well as a processing and separation laboratory in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

CEO Barbara Humpton has said the company is pushing for innovative approaches to accelerate the build-out of the domestic rare earths supply chain, noting that the revised timeline reflects the team’s technical progress and operational insight. With demand for rare earth magnets rising and geopolitical uncertainty heightening supply risks, earlier US production is considered critical to supporting domestic manufacturing.

The decision to advance Round Top’s schedule follows promising results from solvent-extraction piloting and the expectation that USAR’s Hydromet demonstration plant in Colorado will start operating in early 2026. The facility will run five solvent extraction circuits continuously for 2 000 h to 4 000 h to generate data for commercial plant design. The circuits will focus on heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, while also recovering hafnium and zirconium.

This parallel-processing strategy is expected to save millions of dollars and enable completion of the definitive feasibility study by early 2027, paving the way for commercial production by late 2028. The accelerated timeline allows for USAR to unlock value sooner and reinforces its intention to establish a resilient, fully integrated US rare earth supply chain. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Texas Mineral Resources Corp investor relations, tel +1908451 4234 or email amarchese@tmrcorp.com.