The World's Best Rare Earth Companies: Meet the Top 10 Powerhouses

Rare earth elements are the foundation of some of the most important technologies today, enabling advancements in electric vehicles, renewable energy, and high-tech devices. The companies leading the rare earth industry are instrumental in ensuring a steady global supply of these crucial materials. From innovation in production to strategic global operations, these top 10 rare earth companies are shaping the future of technology and sustainability. Their influence spans multiple sectors, making them key players in the ever-evolving landscape of modern industry. Discover the companies driving progress in the rare earth market and their role in powering the technologies of tomorrow.

1. AEM REE

• Location: Hunan, China
• Foundation Year: 2015
• Company Overview: AEM REE has over 10 years of experience in manufacturing and selling rare earth products, including rare earth metals, alloys, oxides, and compounds. The company serves a diverse range of industries, from aerospace and automotive to electronics, military contractors, and metallurgical researchers. With an ISO 9001 certified quality system, AEM REE ensures that all products meet the highest international standards of quality and safety. Known as a reliable source for high-purity metals, metal powders, compounds, and fabricated forms, AEM REE is committed to providing top-quality products at competitive prices, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction.

2. NEO

• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Foundation Year: 1994
• Company Overview: Neo manufactures advanced industrial materials that serve as the foundational elements of many modern technologies, enhancing efficiency and sustainability. The company's products—including magnetic powders and magnets, specialty chemicals, metals, and alloys—are essential for the performance of numerous everyday items and emerging technologies. By delivering these innovative materials, Neo plays a vital role in bringing the technologies of tomorrow to consumers today. Additionally, Neo's advanced industrial materials are crucial for developing highly sought-after and environmentally friendly technologies, such as hybrid and electric vehicles, pollution control systems, high-efficiency appliances and pumps, energy-efficient lighting, and water purification systems, among others.

3. Texas Mineral Resources Corp

• Location: Texas, United States
• Foundation Year: 1970
• Company Overview: Texas Mineral Resources is an exploration-stage mining company focused on its flagship property, Round Top Mountain, located near Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County, Texas. The company aims to become the nation's primary supplier of heavy rare earth elements, believing that the establishment of this mine will spur technological advancements in the region. Texas Mineral Resources is committed to developing a skilled workforce and creating new industry within the state. The company emphasizes the importance of re-establishing the United States as a leader in the technology, production, and refining of strategically vital heavy rare earth elements, which are essential to the country’s defense and technological infrastructure. The Round Top deposit is uniquely positioned to meet this critical national demand, as Texas Mineral Resources plans to produce a full range of high-purity heavy rare earth elements, along with a variety of associated high-value by-products.

4. Materion Advanced Materials Group

• Location: Ohio, United States
• Foundation Year: 1931
• Company Overview: Materion is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation to deliver breakthrough solutions that propel the world forward. The company aims to be the partner of choice for customers seeking advanced materials that drive imagination, performance, and sustainable competitive advantage. With nearly 100 years of experience addressing complex technical challenges, Materion’s success is rooted in the quality and commitment of its people, who embody the core values of passion, innovation, and integrity. This dedication has fostered sustainable, long-term relationships with customers and allowed the company to expand its global footprint, bringing its solutions to markets worldwide. Materion specializes in developing specialty engineered alloy systems, inorganic chemicals and powders, precious and non-precious metals, beryllium and beryllium composites, as well as precision filters and optical coatings. The company serves a diverse range of industries, including semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, energy, automotive, telecommunications, and consumer electronics, enabling next-generation solutions for customers across the globe.

5. MP MATERIALS

• Location: Nevada, United States
• Foundation Year: 2017
• Company Overview: MP Materials Corp. is an American rare-earth materials company. MP Materials owns and operates Mountain Pass, the only integrated rare earth mining and processing site in North America. The company aims to drive the onshoring of jobs, enhance national security, and contribute to a carbon-reduced future. Green technologies of the future—such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and drones—rely on powerful rare earth magnets to convert energy into motion. MP Materials positions itself as a catalyst for a renaissance in domestic manufacturing, with its efforts laying the groundwork for a more self-sufficient future.

6. NORTHERN MINERALS

• Location: Australia
• Foundation Year: 2006
• Company Overview: Northern Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company focused on heavy rare earth elements, particularly dysprosium, lutetium, and terbium. The company holds extensive landholdings in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, which are highly prospective for these critical elements. Northern Mineral Limited (ASX: NTU) aims to develop its wholly owned Browns Range Heavy Rare Earths Project, concentrating on becoming a producer of dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb), essential for high-performance magnet production. With a clearly defined pathway to production, the company's experienced team is currently updating the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), expected to be released by the end of 2024, ahead of a Final Investment Decision in early 2025.

7. Iluka Resources Ltd

• Location: Perth, Australia
• Foundation Year: 1998
• Company Overview: Iluka Resources is a global critical minerals company focus on exploration, project development, mining, processing, marketing, and rehabilitation. The company's objective is to deliver sustainable value and it is a leading producer of zircon and high-grade titanium dioxide feedstocks, such as rutile and synthetic rutile. With the development of Australia’s first fully integrated rare earths refinery at Eneabba in Western Australia, Iluka aims to become a significant supplier of separated rare earth oxides. Its products serve various applications, including technology, construction, medical, lifestyle, defense, and industrial uses. As demand for high-quality Australian critical minerals grows in a more sustainable world, Iluka operates projects and maintains a globally integrated marketing network. The company is headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), holding a 20% stake in Deterra Royalties, the largest ASX-listed resources-focused royalty company.

8. Lynas Rare Earths Ltd

• Location: Malaysia
• Foundation Year: 1983
• Company Overview: Founded as an ethical and environmentally responsible producer, Lynas supplies rare earth materials for global manufacturing supply chains in East Asia, Europe, and North America. The company ensures assured provenance from mine to finished product through its integrated and secure supply chain, starting with the high-grade Mt Weld mine, recognized as one of the world’s premier rare earth deposits. Concentrate sourced from Mt Weld is processed at the Rare Earths Processing Facility in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and at the Lynas Malaysia advanced materials plant in Kuantan, Malaysia. Additionally, Lynas is constructing a new Rare Earths Processing Facility in Texas, USA, to separate pre-processed mixed rare earths. Known as the "vitamins" of manufacturing due to their unique properties—magnetic, electrical, optical, and catalytic—Lynas’ rare earth materials are utilized in various high-tech applications, including electronics, wind turbines, and hybrid and electric vehicles.

9. Energy Fuels

• Location: Colorado, United States
• Foundation Year: 1987
• Company Overview: Energy Fuels has a unique uranium production portfolio that is well-positioned for the expected growth in nuclear energy as nations seek affordable energy solutions while addressing climate change and air pollution. The company employs both conventional and in-situ recovery (ISR) technologies to produce uranium from three strategic facilities: the White Mesa Mill in Utah and the Nichols Ranch Plant in Wyoming. With an industry-leading US NI 43-101 Mineral Resource portfolio and a range of high-quality development and exploration projects, Energy Fuels is prepared to significantly increase uranium production in the U.S. as uranium prices rise. Additionally, the company is the only primary producer of vanadium in the U.S., with extensive mining and production capabilities and significant in-ground vanadium resources, along with the only conventional vanadium mill in the country.

10. China Northern Rare Earth High-Tech Co., Ltd

• Location: Inner Mongolia, China
• Foundation Year: 1961
• Company Overview: China Northern Rare Earth Group High-Tech Co., Ltd is a China-based company primarily engaged in providing rare earth products. The company operates through four main segments: the Trading Business segment focuses on selling rare earth raw materials; the Production Business segment is responsible for producing these raw materials; the Rare Earth Functional Materials and Application Products segment specializes in manufacturing and selling rare earth functional materials and application products; and the Environmental Protection Industry and Others segment offers services related to environmental protection, including the disposal and recycling of waste gas, wastewater, and solid waste. The company’s primary products include rare earth salts, oxides, and metals, as well as rare earth magnetic materials, polishing materials, hydrogen storage materials, catalytic materials, nickel-hydrogen power batteries, and high-efficiency energy-saving motors utilizing rare earth permanent magnets.