USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq: USAR) is acquiring one of the most established rare earth metal and alloy producers outside of China, a move that it says represents “a significant acceleration” of its mine-to-magnet strategy. LCM is one of the few companies capable of processing metal oxide feedstocks from both mined and recycled sources, USAR said. Metals and alloys produced at its facility include samarium, samarium cobalt, neodymium-praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, yttrium and gadolinium. Under the terms of the agreement, USAR will pay $100 million cash and issue 6.74 million common shares to acquire LCM. “Midstream metal making is the linchpin of the global supply chain, and LCM is the only proven ex-China producer of rare earth metal, alloys and strip casting at scale.