Niron Magnetics wins conditional $150-million loan commitment for rare earth-free magnets

Niron Magnetics has received a conditional commitment from the US Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) for a direct loan of up to $150 million over a 20-year term. The loan would support construction and equipment at the company’s first commercial-scale plant for rare earth-free Iron Nitride permanent magnets, in Sartell, Minnesota.

The 287,000-square-foot Sartell plant is scheduled to be operational in 2027 and would bring material-to-magnet production under one roof, turning out up to 1,500 tons of rare earth-free permanent magnets per year. OSC puts the plant’s total cost at $605 million. Niron describes the site as the first step in a modular manufacturing platform. Final site selection is underway for a second US plant capable of 10,000 tons of annual capacity, which the company expects to begin building in 2028.

Permanent magnets are widely used in EV traction motors, and motor makers including YASA are developing designs that use less or no rare earth material. Niron says permanent magnets are essential components in defense systems, data centers, industrial automation, consumer electronics, robotics, aerospace applications and advanced electric motors.

Most rare earth permanent magnets are produced overseas, according to Niron. The company says its own supply chain has no rare earth materials, no offshore separation and no heavy rare earth exposure, and that its iron and nitrogen feedstocks are sourced domestically.

Iron Nitride magnets are made from iron and nitrogen rather than the neodymium, dysprosium and terbium used in conventional neodymium magnets.

“We are accelerating commercialization of an American-developed magnet technology that offers manufacturers a domestic path to high-performance permanent magnets built without rare earth materials,” said Jonathan Rowntree, CEO of Niron Magnetics.

Source: Niron Magnetics