The weekly brief on the U.S. critical-minerals, rare-earth, and coal build-out, for the people who staff and supply it.
Top signal of the week
The U.S. House passes the bipartisan DOMINANCE Act for critical-mineral security
On Monday, June 8, the House passed H.R. 7037, the DOMINANCE Act, to deepen critical-mineral cooperation with allied nations, mobilize strategic investment, and fund the workforce and expertise behind domestic supply chains. It is not law yet; it still needs the Senate and the President. For the people who staff and supply these projects, the signal is direction: federal support for reshoring mining, processing, and magnet-making is bipartisan, and the bill names workforce as a bottleneck. Sponsors note China controls roughly 90% of global rare-earth processing, the gap the build-out exists to close.
DOE selected two projects for negotiation under a $134M program to recover rare earths from waste: the Colorado School of Mines (bauxite "red mud," Louisiana) and Phoenix Tailings (industrial waste, Ardmore, Oklahoma).
Ramaco Resources and REalloys signed a non-binding MOU toward an offtake of mixed rare-earth carbonate from the Brook mine in Wyoming, the first new U.S. rare-earth mine in over 70 years; REalloys would separate the material in Canada.
DOE added $15M for two CORE-CM regional consortia developing critical minerals from coal, acid mine drainage, and coal-combustion residues, led by the University of Nevada, Reno and Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Where projects are ramping and what roles they need, for our recruiter readers.
HiringLithium · Nevada
Lithium Americas is at peak construction on Thacker Pass; it expects roughly 1,800 craftspeople on site by late 2026 and more than 2,000 Phase 1 jobs, with rising demand for electricians and skilled trades.
MP Materials is building "10X," a $1.25B magnet campus in Northlake, Texas (near Fort Worth), projected to create more than 1,500 manufacturing and engineering jobs, targeting about 10,000 t/yr of NdFeB magnets, with commissioning in 2028.
USA Rare Earth has its Stillwater magnet plant in early commercial operation and is posting for production operators, maintenance technicians, and process engineers.
Rare earths are 17 metals; four of them, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, make the high-strength NdFeB permanent magnets inside EV motors, wind turbines, and defense systems. The U.S. mines rare earths at Mountain Pass, California, yet stayed 80% net import reliant in 2024, because most separation and magnet-making still happens in China. That processing bottleneck, not a shortage of ore, is what the build-out is trying to fix, through new separation plants, magnet factories, and unconventional sources like coal and bauxite waste. Brook mine in Wyoming would be the first new U.S. rare-earth mine in more than 70 years.
U.S. rare-earth dependency (share)
70+ years since the last new U.S. rare-earth mine.