The Next Fort Knox? Why the Army is Going All-In On Rare Earths The Next Fort Knox? Why the Army is Going All-In On Rare Earths Oilprice.com Charles Kennedy Mon, July 27, 2026 at 5:00 PM PDT 10 min read IDR FCX SCCO NB In 1937, the Army guarded the first shipments of a critical resource, U.S. gold, as it was transferred into Fort Knox. Nearly 90 years later, Washington faces a similar situation with a very different resource. The Army picked REalloys ( NASDAQ: ALOY ) to build a facility to process dysprosium and terbium at Utah's Tooele Army Depot - two rare earths that keep high-performance magnets working in weapons, radar, sonar and electric motors . More from Yahoo Scout What makes dysprosium and terbium critical for defense applications? What is the significance of the 2027 DFARS deadline? How does China's dominance affect U.S. rare earth supply? Why did the Army choose REalloys for rare earth processing? Gold went to Fort Knox because America was unsure they could protect it from threats abroad. Rare earths now raise a similar question: how much of the defense supply chain can the country afford to leave overseas? "The ability to process critical minerals on U.S. soil is a national-defense priority required for munitions, missiles, sensors, batteries, and the platforms our Soldiers depend on," said Dr. Jeff Waksman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. "Leveraging our legal authorities and land, the U.S. Army is able to help nurture a critical minerals industrial base which equips and sustains America's Soldiers without putting any taxpayer dollars at risk." China controlled about 91% of global separation and refining for magnet rare earths as of 2024 and produced roughly 94% of the world's rare-earth permanent magnets, according to the International Energy Agency. The Army has spent decades buying equipment that depends on those magnets. Now it has picked one of its own bases for domestic dysprosium and terbium processing in the Utah desert. The Army Has Never Done This Before The Army has never hosted commercial mineral processing on a U.S. installation before, which makes the Tooele award more than an ordinary land deal. REalloys won the dysprosium and terbium site at the 43,000-acre Tooele Army Depot. The arrangement is simple: the Army keeps the land while REalloys brings the capital, builds the facility and runs it . For a new processing project, that changes the starting point. REalloys ( NASDAQ: ALOY ) would not have to begin by finding and securing an industrial site. The Army has already picked one and tied it directly to a U.S. defense priority. It also chose the first two metals carefully. Dysprosium and terbium help powerful magnets continue working under extreme heat. The Army uses those magnets in precision guidance, defense electronics, electric motors, sonar and radar - systems that cannot afford to lose strength when conditions get rough. China dominates the processing behind those magnets , giving Beijing control over a part...
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