Utah terbium oxide wins approval from Japanese magnet maker

At Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill in Utah, terbium oxide has cleared a commercial qualification hurdle. One of Japan’s largest rare-earth permanent-magnet manufacturers outside China tested the oxide against its commercial requirements and approved it for magnet production, the company says.

The approval means the material requires no further qualification before commercial use. The approval only confirms that Energy Fuels could supply the oxide for magnet production. The Japanese manufacturer is not named.

Terbium is a heavy rare earth used in neodymium-iron-boron, or NdFeB, magnets. It can improve their heat resistance and performance. Those permanent magnets support electric vehicles, robotics, aerospace systems and defense equipment, giving the Utah material a role in several industrial supply chains rather than one single product.

The commercial hurdle matters because producing a rare-earth oxide is not enough for a magnet maker. The material must also meet strict purity and performance requirements. Energy Fuels had already secured qualifications for neodymium-praseodymium oxide and dysprosium oxide, two other materials used alongside terbium in advanced permanent magnets. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates terbium oxide at about $5.5 million per tonne in Europe, reflecting scarce supply outside China.

So what changes in practice? Magnet manufacturers in Japan now have an approved non-Chinese source they can consider for terbium, while Energy Fuels gains a foothold for its plan to expand White Mesa from a uranium and critical-minerals processing site into a rare-earth hub. The company has proposed deals involving Australian Strategic Materials and German magnet producer Vacuumschmelze, also known as VAC, but its wider mine-to-magnet strategy still requires further work. The approval removes one technical barrier; it does not yet establish a complete Western supply chain.