A fast-rising Research Triangle startup is gearing up to take a swing at one of the toughest corners of global manufacturing — and it just secured more than $1 billion to do it.
Vulcan Elements, founded in 2023, is positioning itself as a homegrown answer to China’s dominance in rare earth magnet production. The company has lined up a $620 million loan from the federal government and is finalizing another $50 million grant via the CHIPS and Science Act. Commerce officials also confirmed the agency will take a $50 million equity stake in the company, part of a package that includes roughly $550 million in private capital.
“This investment accelerates U.S. production of rare earth magnets for American manufacturers,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
Rare earth magnets are the quiet backbone of modern technology — powering everything from EV motors and wind turbines to smartphones and defense systems. The U.S. once led this industry, but over decades ceded ground to China, which now commands roughly 90% of global supply. With tensions escalating and China imposing new export limits on key materials, Washington is moving to rebuild domestic capability.
Vulcan’s plan starts with a 10,000-metric-ton magnet factory — the first large-scale U.S. facility of its kind in years — in partnership with Indiana-based ReElement Technologies, a rare earth refiner. The company opened a modest RTP manufacturing site this spring, capable of producing just 10 metric tons annually, but says the big expansion is coming soon.
CEO John Maslin, a U.S. Navy veteran in his early 30s, said the company chose the Triangle for its manufacturing talent pipeline and proximity to customers, including military and defense contractors.
“Execution and performance are everything right now,” Maslin said. “The nation needs this capability — urgently.”
The company hasn’t yet named the location of its flagship plant. A spokesperson said Vulcan is in the “final stages of a multi-state search” and declined to say whether North Carolina remains in the running.
If the project lands here, it will mark another major win for the state’s fast-growing advanced manufacturing sector — and put North Carolina at the center of America’s effort to rebuild a supply chain that faded a generation ago and is suddenly critical again.
