USA Rare Earth says it plans to acquire Brazilian rare earth miner Serra Verde for $2.8 billion — with the Oklahoma-based company looking to challenge China's status as the world's leading supplier. According to an April 20 release, the deal would secure for USA Rare Earth the only large-scale producer of vital heavy rare earth minerals (HREE) outside of Asia. Serra Verde is also expected to represent more than half of all production of non-China HREE supplies by 2027.
"The world has become too dependent on a single source and it's high time to break that dependency," USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC's Squawk Box on April 20. HREEs are known to be scarcer and more expensive than their light rare earth mineral counterparts. They serve as critical inputs for components used in advanced manufacturing applications — including powerful permanent magnets used in EV motors, wind turbines, drones, missiles and consumer electronics.
The deal is expected to close before the end of 2026, pending regulatory approvals. "This acquisition will serve as a cornerstone of global rare earth supply security for decades to come," Humpton said. From a supply chain perspective, this transaction is a major milestone in the West's critical minerals supply chain strategy — directly challenging China's historical dominance in HREE production.
From a supply chain perspective, Serra Verde's ion-adsorption clay-type deposits share geological characteristics similar to the Jiangxi deposits in China — significant for high-value heavy rare earth elements such as terbium, dysprosium and yttrium. Together with Australia-based Lynas Rare Earths and California's MP Materials, USA Rare Earth now becomes one of the three main pillars of the non-China rare earth ecosystem. For the Pentagon's defense stockpiling programs, EV manufacturers (Tesla, Ford, GM) and wind turbine OEMs, this means a fundamental shift in supply diversification strategies.
