Energy Fuels’ Utah-produced terbium oxide qualifies for magnet production in Japan

Energy Fuels says the terbium (Tb) oxide it produces at its White Mesa Mill in Utah has passed all qualifications for use by a Japan-based manufacturer of rare earth permanent magnets, which it describes as one of the world’s largest outside China. The manufacturer told Energy Fuels the material meets its specifications and is approved for use in commercial magnet production. No further qualification or validation is required.

Terbium improves the heat resistance of NdFeB permanent magnets, the magnet type used in EV traction motors. Along with dysprosium, it is one of the heavy rare earths that magnet makers add to hold coercivity as operating temperatures rise.

The market price of terbium oxide is approximately $5.5 million per tonne delivered into Europe, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Energy Fuels attributes the high price to the element’s scarcity and limited production in the West.

Energy Fuels had already qualified its neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) and dysprosium (Dy) oxides for permanent magnet manufacture. Charged covered both the NdPr qualification and the dysprosium qualification, each completed by South Korean manufacturers. The terbium result puts the company a step closer to commercially producing a full portfolio of light and heavy rare earth oxides for permanent magnets.

The company has pending acquisitions of Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) and Vacuumschmelze (VAC), and expects the two deals to make it the leading vertically integrated “mine-to-rare earth permanent magnet” producer in the US and Europe.

White Mesa produced its first kilogram of terbium oxide in March 2026, at a purity of 99.9% Tb at pilot scale, which the company said met the specifications of global permanent magnet manufacturers.

Source: Energy Fuels