With $1.2 billion in facility-specific investment and 490 permanent operating jobs announced, this project clears both of AFT's qualifying thresholds ($100 million in facility-specific investment OR 100 permanent operating jobs). This project also meets AFT's primary-source verification and physical U.S. manufacturing-footprint requirements.
View full methodology →The critical minerals processing context.
Critical Minerals Processing tracks major U.S. facilities that separate, refine, process, recover, or manufacture strategically important mineral materials used in batteries, permanent magnets, electronics, defense systems, energy infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. It distinguishes industrial mineral processing from extraction-only mining, following material conversion from feedstock into usable industrial inputs.
At a glance
- Company
- USA Rare Earth
- Industry
- Critical Minerals Processing
- Location
- Blacksburg, South Carolina
- Investment
- $1.20B
- Permanent jobs announced
- 490
- Status
- Under Construction
- Announced
- Jun 3, 2026
- Expected opening
- April 2028
- Added to tracker
- Sep 23, 2026
Official references
- South Carolina Governor USA Rare Earth Cherokee County announcement https://governor.sc.gov/news/2026-06/usa-rare-earth-inc-selects-cherokee-county-first-south-carolina-operation
- USA Rare Earth Blacksburg groundbreaking https://investors.usare.com/news-releases/news-release-details/usa-rare-earth-breaks-ground-advanced-rare-earth-metal-and
Other projects to know
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- Industrial Machinery & EquipmentOMRON AutomationGreer, South Carolina$9.2M162 jobs