Mining took 630 million dollars. Magnet making took 742 million. Making the alloy took 410,000, and that was one award.
Eighteen years of the federal record counts about 2 billion dollars committed on rare earths, from the mine all the way to the magnet. In contrast, ten announcements from the Department of War since August 2025 sum to close to 3 billion.
So, is China's export control on critical minerals a rude awakening for the United States?
Let’s look at how the country spends across the full mine to magnet chain. USA Spending is the only source that records every grant, loan and contract the federal government has issued, and it goes back eighteen years. Some of the figures look comically small, more on that later, remember the iceberg.
USA Spending shows us the shape of the spending. A view of whether the United States woke up recently, or has been awake for a long, long time.
Begin with the simplest thing the record can answer.
92 to 3
It’s the percentage that goes to producing rare earths vs using them. The following numbers are all about the production. Now, which part of the mine to magnet received the fund?
Two Ends
There are five steps in the mine-to-magnet chain. Mining, Separate the elements. Turn the separated oxide into metal. Turn the metal into alloy. Turn the alloy into a magnet. They committed in the first step and last step.
Mining took about 630 million dollars. Magnet making took about 742 million.
Then there is the middle of the middle. Making the metal took 6 million dollars in eighteen years. Making the alloy took 410,000 dollars, and that is one single award in R&D.
Magnet making received roughly 1,800 times what alloying received.
Turn your phone sideways to read the charts. They are best on a desktop.
Every dot is $500,000.
Committed Is not Spent
The step that looks best funded is the one where almost no money has spent.
You cannot skip a step. A magnet plant with no metal and no alloy behind it is a plant waiting on someone else for its feedstock. The United States funded the two ends of the chain and left the middle alone.
Federal rare earth spending · 2008 to 2026
All 411 awards on the five steps. A blank paid figure counts as nothing paid. Source: usaspending.gov, 2 September 2026.
Table view
| Step | Awards | Committed | Paid out | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining | 98 | 630,813,645 | 18,412,091 | 2.92% |
| Separation | 210 | 309,360,743 | 117,050,183 | 37.84% |
| Metallization | 18 | 6,618,792 | 2,031,018 | 30.69% |
| Alloying | 3 | 440,585 | 410,000 | 93.06% |
| Magnet Making | 82 | 742,144,908 | 2,465,473 | 0.33% |
The Middle
The government committed 289 million dollars to making metal and alloy, across 30 awards to 25 organisations. But 93 per cent of it sits in three awards and two companies: two loans to USA Rare Earth for strip casting and metal making, and E-Vac's magnet plant, which includes making the metal it needs.
In eighteen years of the spending record, the money spent on standalone metal and alloy makers is about 20 million dollars (27 awards), and the largest single one, 1.5 million dollars for samarium metal production, spent on a company in England.
Stay inside the record for a moment.
bands
marks
the hollow row is money that names more than one step, almost all of it usa rare earth's loans of june 2026.
money committed plus the face value of loan guarantees. the figure at the right of each row is the number of years in which that step received anything. the bars are every step together, year by year.
prime awards, usaspending.gov, 2 september 2026.
Who signed?
Four agencies account for almost all of it.
Commerce committed more than the other three combined. Defense has spent the most on rare earths inside finished equipment, which makes sense, since it is the one that needs them. More than half of what Energy funds is separation work. The science foundation has more awards than anyone and the least money.
Defense does not appear here at anything like its real size. It could not lend at all until recently. Its Office of Strategic Capital was created in 2022. It only received lending authority in the 2024 defence authorisation act. Before that its tool was the Defense Production Act, and those awards do appear here. The largest is 41.6 million dollars to a plant in Beatrice, Nebraska recovering heavy rare earths from recycled lamp phosphors.
We know who paid. We do not know if anything was produced.
one square is a department's year, on a logarithmic scale of committed money plus loan guarantees. a blank is a year with nothing in it. eight smaller departments are left out. usaspending.gov, 2 september 2026.
Abroad
USA Spending shows about 50 million dollars committed outside the country. Almost all of it is mines in South Africa, Madagascar, Malawi, Angola and Brazil.
They are feasibility studies, paid for by the government's development lender rather than by Defense or Energy. Very high risk work that usually only a government will pay for.
One of the eight is in England. The Department of Defense paid Less Common Metals for samarium metal production, the largest award in the whole file for making rare earth metal.
Drag to turn it. Tap a marked country.
Federal grants, contracts and loans on the rare earth production chain where the work is performed outside the United States, 2008 to 2026, in 8 awards worth 50,397,205 dollars. Money committed. Plotted by where the work happens, not where the recipient is registered. One award in Brazil carries no committed figure.
Latency
China cut its export quotas in 2010 and 2011 and prices rose roughly tenfold. That is the moment everyone points to. The United States answered with about six and a half million dollars.
The middle of the last decade shows the same magnitude of spending. At six to eight million a year, less than during the crisis itself.
2020 is the first year above fifty million. 2023 crosses a hundred and fifty. 2026 on its own is close to 1.4 billion dollars, roughly two thirds of everything committed in 18 years.
Two things to hold on to. Most of that 2026 figure is loan guarantees, promises to lend rather than money spent. And 2026 is not a finished year, which makes the gap wider.
1,300,000,000 of it is a loan guarantee. A promise to lend, not money spent.
between the quotas and the money.
350 production awards on the chain. A band's thickness is its share of the 1,887,974,051 dollars committed, loan guarantees included.2026 is a partial year. usaspending.gov, 2 September 2026.
Table view
| Year | Awards | Obligated | Loan guarantee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 | 371,463 | 0 | 371,463 |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 4 | 2,433,842 | 0 | 2,433,842 |
| 2012 | 8 | 1,264,273 | 0 | 1,264,273 |
| 2013 | 1 | 100,000 | 0 | 100,000 |
| 2014 | 8 | 3,099,757 | 0 | 3,099,757 |
| 2015 | 8 | 1,826,104 | 0 | 1,826,104 |
| 2016 | 18 | 22,556,574 | 0 | 22,556,574 |
| 2017 | 17 | 10,900,703 | 0 | 10,900,703 |
| 2018 | 5 | 1,205,028 | 0 | 1,205,028 |
| 2019 | 14 | 26,584,923 | 0 | 26,584,923 |
| 2020 | 28 | 69,021,052 | 0 | 69,021,052 |
| 2021 | 31 | 43,685,500 | 0 | 43,685,500 |
| 2022 | 37 | 19,981,704 | 0 | 19,981,704 |
| 2023 | 37 | 153,230,466 | 0 | 153,230,466 |
| 2024 | 63 | 120,040,682 | 0 | 120,040,682 |
| 2025 | 29 | 42,081,991 | 0 | 42,081,991 |
| 2026 | 41 | 69,589,989 | 1,300,000,000 | 1,369,589,989 |
The Iceberg
If a number here looks too small, you were right to doubt it. USA Spending counts only grants, loans and contracts. But it never records equity, price floors, tax credits, etc.
One way to find out the magnitude of the U.S. spending on rare earths is to look into the treasury. Most of us cannot. The USA Spending is the next best option. It’s narrow but exhaustive rather than broad and incomplete. It’s particularly useful in this analysis since it shows us the project that explicitly mentions rare earth, and projects that mention any of the rare earths.
Is the USA spending a good proxy for what the United States has spent on rare earths? Not even close. It is the minimum. But it shows the shape of distribution. What does it take to find the real magnitude?
MP Materials
USA Spending records show MP Materials three times, for a total of 23.7 million dollars. In July 2025 the Department of Defense put 400 million dollars of preferred equity into it and guaranteed a floor price of 110 dollars a kilogram on its neodymium-praseodymium output for ten years. None of that is an award, so none of it appears in USA Spending. For the most important rare earth company in the country, this record shows about six per cent.
There is a fourth MP award in the record. 2.4 million dollars for lanthanum storage and rotation. I have not counted it, because storing metal is not producing it. One award like that changes nothing. But this is one company. There are hundreds more, and the hidden costs compound.
Phoenix Tailings
USA Spending has eight records worth 5.2 million dollars. In June 2026 the Department of War committed 500 million to it as a conditional loan. That same month the Department of Energy awarded it a 66 million dollar grant. Neither appears in USA Spending. Nor does whatever it took from In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA.
The 500 million is a promise to lend, so it is not yet an obligation and there is a reason it is missing. The 66 million is an ordinary grant, the exact thing this database exists to record. There is no reason at all.
Federal money committed to Phoenix Tailings is 571 million dollars. The record shows under one per cent.
Ucore
In 2012 the Defense Logistics Agency paid 150,000 dollars for a Bokan Mountain resource assessment. The Pentagon was buying a report on a rare earth deposit. Searches for rare earth won't show this record. Because the award never uses the words and they paid to Landmark Alaska Limited Partnership, Ucore's operating subsidiary. Search the parent and you get nothing at all.
In 2014 Alaska authorized its development authority to issue up to 145 million dollars of bonds for Bokan, subject to that authority's own diligence. Ucore never completed the feasibility study the diligence needed. No bond was ever issued.
Then Louisiana offered 15 million dollars to bring the plant there, 8.2 million of it as a tax exemption. State money again, so none of it shows up either.
There are many more examples of such a kind. It’s visible only after thousands of hours of investigation.
Everyone is Awake
So the intent is not in doubt. The government funded 197 organisations on this chain, 127 of them only once. It has been trying to build the capability for about a decade and a half and only recently built the instruments to do it with. There was a will to spend. What was missing was somebody who could deliver.
The rude awakening was never the government’s.
References
Data
USAspending.gov. (2026). Prime award transactions and subawards: Rare earth and critical minerals keyword searches [Data set]. U.S. Department of the Treasury. https://www.usaspending.gov
Government announcements
U.S. Department of Defense. (2021, June 8). Defense Department takes immediate action to shore up critical materials supply chain [Fact sheet]. https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jun/08/2002737124/-1/-1/0/DOD-FACT-SHEET-CRITICAL-MATERIALS-SUPPLY-CHAIN-2021.06.07.PDF
U.S. Department of Defense. (2025, January 6). DOD establishes strategic and critical materials board of directors. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4022309/
U.S. Department of Defense. (2025, January 17). Department of Defense awards $5.1 million to recover rare earth elements from recycled electronic waste. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4033048/
U.S. Department of War. (2025, August 10). Office of Strategic Capital announces first loan through DoD agreement with MP Materials. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4270722/
U.S. Department of War. (2025, November 21). Office of Strategic Capital agrees to joint $700M conditional loan commitment with Vulcan Elements and ReElement. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4339788/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, February 20). DOW enhances U.S. rare earth elements supply chain resilience. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4410568/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, February 20). Department of War invests $11.8M for the domestic processing of critical materials. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4410424/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, February 24). Securing rare earth elements a national security imperative, official says. https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4413490/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, June 16). Office of Strategic Capital signs $500 million conditional loan commitment with Phoenix Tailings. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4517853/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, June 18). Office of Strategic Capital signs $725 million conditional loan commitment with Energy Fuels. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4520819/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, July 13). Department of War announces $25 million investment with ReElement Technologies. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4541423/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, July 14). Office of Strategic Capital introduces National Security Fund Finance Program. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4545418/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, August 7). Department of War announces an $85.5 million agreement with Strategic Bauxite USA. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4566604/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, August 7). Office of Strategic Capital signs $150 million conditional loan commitment with Niron Magnetics, Inc. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4566567/
U.S. Department of War. (2026, August 24). Department of War announces a $750 million investment as part of a $1.55 billion initiative to secure critical minerals. https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4581110/
U.S. Department of Energy. (n.d.). 2010 critical materials strategy. https://www.energy.gov/ia/articles/2010-critical-materials-strategy
U.S. Department of Energy. (n.d.). 2011 critical materials strategy. https://www.energy.gov/ia/articles/2011-critical-materials-strategy
U.S. Department of Energy. (n.d.). Critical materials and rare futures: Ames Laboratory signs a new agreement on rare-earth research. https://www.energy.gov/articles/critical-materials-and-rare-futures-ames-laboratory-signs-new-agreement-rare-earth
U.S. Department of Energy. (n.d.). From Tesla's lab to Los Alamos: Powerful magnets come full circle. https://www.energy.gov/articles/teslas-lab-los-alamos-powerful-magnets-come-full-circle
U.S. Department of Defense. (n.d.). Department of Defense announces FY17 research equipment awards. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/1108482/
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2026, January). The Department of Commerce's CHIPS Program announces a letter of intent with USA Rare Earth. https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/01/department-commerces-chips-program-announces-letter-intent-usa-rare-earth
Companies
e-VAC Magnetics. (n.d.). Advanced magnetic solutions. https://evacmagnetics.com/
MP Materials. (2025, July). MP Materials announces transformational public-private partnership with the Department of Defense to accelerate U.S. rare earth magnet independence. https://mpmaterials.com/news/mp-materials-announces-transformational-public-private-partnership-with-the-department-of-defense-to-accelerate-u-s-rare-earth-magnet-independence/
Phoenix Tailings. (2026, February 19). Phoenix Tailings secures $40.2 million in strategic capital to accelerate U.S. rare earth metals production. https://phoenixtailings.com/press/phoenix-tailings-secures-40-2-million-in-strategic-capital-to-accelerate-u-s-rare-earth-metals-production
Phoenix Tailings. (2026, June). U.S. Department of War helps launch an ~$1B initiative with Phoenix Tailings to rebuild America's rare earth industrial base. https://phoenixtailings.com/press/u-s-department-of-war-helps-launch-an-1b-initiative-with-phoenix-tailings-to-rebuild-americas-rare-earth-industrial-base
USA Rare Earth. (2026, January 26). USA Rare Earth announces letter of intent with the U.S. government for access to $1.6 billion in funding. https://investors.usare.com/news-releases/news-release-details/usa-rare-earth-announces-letter-intent-us-government-access-16
South Carolina Department of Commerce. (n.d.). e-VAC Magnetics to build first US facility in Sumter County. https://www.sccommerce.com/news/e-vac-magnetics-build-first-us-facility-sumter-county
Oklahoma Department of Commerce. (n.d.). Oklahoma secures first domestic rare earth metal and magnet manufacturing facility. https://www.okcommerce.gov/governor-stitt-department-of-commerce-secure-first-domestic-rare-earth-metal-and-magnet-manufacturing-facility/
Press and analysis
Manufacturing Dive. (2026, June). DOD commits $1.2B in conditional loans to Phoenix Tailings, Energy Fuels. https://www.manufacturingdive.com/news/defense-energy-fuel-phoenix-tailings-loans-war-dod-office-strategic-capital/823331/
Chemical & Engineering News. (2026, June). Pentagon offers $1.25 billion in loans for rare earth processing plants. https://cen.acs.org/business/investment/pentagon-billion-loans-rare-earths/104/web/2026/06
Mining Weekly. (2026, June 5). Mine waste refiner Phoenix Tailings granted $66m US funding for rare earths separation. https://www.miningweekly.com/article/mine-wate-refiner-phoenix-tailings-granted-66m-us-funding-for-rare-earths-seperation-2026-06-05
MINING.COM. (2026). USA Rare Earth produces first batch of magnets at Oklahoma plant. https://www.mining.com/usa-rare-earth-produces-first-batch-of-magnets-at-oklahoma-plant/
Center on Global Energy Policy. (2025). MP Materials deal marks a significant shift in US rare earths policy. Columbia University SIPA. https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/mp-materials-deal-marks-a-significant-shift-in-us-rare-earths-policy/
Federation of American Scientists. (2025). Unpacking the DoD and MP Materials critical minerals partnership. https://fas.org/publication/unpacking-dod-and-mp-partnership/
Gallagher Boggs, K. (n.d.). Government money and attention in rare earth [Post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/katie-gallagher-boggs-7a09363_government-money-and-attention-in-rare-earth-activity-7498448514339790848-shvP
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