The Department of Defense announced today a $4.22 million award to Rare Earth Salts in Beatrice, Nebraska for developing and expanding production of terbium oxide from recycled fluorescent light bulbs. Terbium is an essential element for rare earth magnets in many key defense systems. This effort is funded through the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) office and aligns with the National Defense Industrial Strategy's priority of increasing supply chain resilience by expanding domestic production and sustainment of critical production.
"This award adds a domestic source for one of the most difficult-to-obtain rare earth elements," said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD(IBP)). "Rare Earth Salts' capability will help the United States establish a mine-to-magnet supply chain without reliance on foreign sources of material."
Terbium adds temperature resiliency to neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets used in multiple key defense systems including aircraft, submarines, and missiles. Making up less than 1% of the total rare earth content in most deposits, it is one of the hardest elements to source. Rare Earth Salts is uniquely positioned as one of the only terbium oxide producers outside of China and uses environmentally conscious recycling processes. As co-products, the company will also recover the rare earths lanthanum, cerium, europium, and yttrium, each with their own applications in commercial industry and defense.
The DPAI office has issued more than 50 program awards in FY2024 across multiple areas, totaling $518.7 million. DPAI is overseen by the ASD(IBP)'s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) directorate in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience.
