Rare earths company REalloys receives Pentagon funding

Rare earths company REalloys has been awarded a U.S. Department of Defense contract worth up to $1.7 ​million to fund design of a processing facility ‌for metals used to make magnets for weapons and electronics, it said on Monday.

The Ohio-based company received the contract from ​the Defense Logistics Agency and aims to process ​up to 300 metric tons per year of ⁠the heavy rare earths samarium and gadolinium into ​metal form, in what would make it one of ​the largest U.S. sources of those metals.

Rare earths must be turned into metals before they can be used to make magnets.

China ​has imposed export restrictions on rare earths and other ​critical minerals.

The contract, which has two phases over 24 months, is ‌an ⁠initial vote of confidence in REalloy’s technology from the DLA, which buys a range of goods for the U.S. military.

REalloys, which last week began trading on Nasdaq ​after merging ​with Blackboxstocks, ⁠will be required to develop engineering schematics for a modular version of the facility.

The ​company is also developing a rare earths ​mine ⁠in Saskatchewan and has a processing agreement with the Saskatchewan Research Council, the Canadian province’s technology innovation unit.

President Donald ⁠Trump has ​ordered the Department of Defense ​to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require ​action by Congress.