Dive Brief:
- Cyclic Materials, a recycler of rare earths and critical minerals, has expanded its operational footprint with the opening of a $20 million facility in Mesa, Arizona.
- The site can process up to 25,000 metric tons of recycled scrap per year, using an automated separation technology that recovers magnets from discarded electronics, robotics, medical devices and other materials.
- Toronto-based Cyclic Materials celebrated the opening of its first U.S. facility on Wednesday, drawing local and federal government officials. Its second U.S. location in Chesterfield County, South Carolina is under construction with plans to be ready by 2028.
Dive Insight:
The Mesa facility is part of Cyclic Materials’ buildout of U.S. recovery infrastructure and advances the Trump administration’s efforts to bolster domestic rare earth supply chains.
For decades the United States has become too reliant on foreign materials, leaving the country vulnerable to potential supply disruptions from China and other countries, said William Kimmitt, undersecretary of the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration.
“You can’t expect to lead in the technologies of tomorrow without reliable access to the foundational materials that make those technologies possible,” Kimmit said at the Mesa facility grand opening Wednesday.
The Trump administration in late July recognized recoverable critical minerals and materials as necessary to national security and defense, and made such products a priority by adding them to Section 101 of the Defense Production Act.
“That means stronger supply chains,” Kimmitt said. “It means additional material available for American manufacturers. It means less reliance on production outside of the United States. And it means another important industrial capability located here at home.”
Cyclic Materials executives touted the Mesa facility as its largest rare earth magnet recycling operation by annual processing capacity.
The 144,000-square-foot plant is equipped with proprietary MagCycle technology that mechanically separates magnets from steel to produce rare earth magnet material called Mag-Xtract, Cyclic Materials COO Matt Cherevaty said at the grand opening. The magnet material is then sent to chemical facilities for refining and separation into rare earth oxides.
Cyclic Materials chose Mesa for its proximity to a growing manufacturing hub of automotive, semiconductor, electronics and data center companies, as well as access to talent and transportation links for moving feedstocks and recovered materials.
More than 7,000 metric tons of scrap material has already been delivered to the Mesa facility, which has begun commercial operation. First shipments are expected later this month and the project created more than 30 jobs. Cherevaty said there is an estimated 155,000 tons of regional feedstock across the Southwest.
“Cyclic is quickly closing gaps in the domestic supply chain as we expedite our rare earth and critical mineral infrastructure development in the U.S.,” CEO and founder Ahmad Ghahreman said in a statement. “This means shaving months, if not years, off the delivery of the critical materials required to drive AI, energy and defense sectors forward.”
Cyclic Materials previously opened a facility in Kingston, Ontario, in 2025 and closed a $75 million funding round last month to expand operations in the U.S.
In addition to Mesa, the company has invested more than $82 million on a second U.S. facility in McBee, South Carolina, that can recover magnets and refine rare earths at the same location. It broke ground earlier this year and is expected to create 90 jobs.
