USA Rare Earth (USAR) broke ground on a new manufacturing facility in Blacksburg, South Carolina. The project represents an investment of approximately $1.2 billion. The facility will create roughly 490 high-skill manufacturing jobs in Cherokee County. The plant covers 800,000 square feet of space. The site spans 124 acres in the Bailey Industrial Park.
The facility will produce sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets and strip-cast metal alloys. These materials provide a secure domestic supply chain for the defense, aerospace, and energy sectors. The South Carolina plant complements the company's existing operations in Oklahoma. Commissioning is scheduled to begin in 2028.