USA Rare Earth Taps Fluor and WSP for 2,000-Hour Demo Plant, Accelerated 2028 Production
USA Rare Earth selected Fluor Corporation and WSP Global as EPCM partners for its Round Top rare earth project in Sierra Blanca, Texas, under its Accelerated Mine Plan. It includes a 2,000-hour demonstration plant run in Colorado by October 2026 and targets heavy rare earth oxides production by late 2028.
1. USA Rare Earth Names EPC Partners for Round Top
USA Rare Earth announced today that it has selected Fluor Corporation and WSP Global as its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners for the Round Top rare earth project in Sierra Blanca, Texas. Both firms were chosen following a competitive evaluation of bids and bring extensive experience in large-scale mining and processing projects globally. Fluor and WSP will support completion of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), detailed engineering, procurement of long-lead equipment and overall project execution, leveraging their track records on multi-year, multi-billion-dollar assignments across North America and international sites.
2. Accelerated Mine Plan Targets Production by Late 2028
In conjunction with its EPCM awards, USA Rare Earth unveiled an Accelerated Mine Plan designed to bring commercial output online two years ahead of prior schedules. Key milestones include operating the company’s Wheat Ridge, Colorado, demonstration plant for 2,000 continuous hours—scheduled to conclude in October 2026—while conducting geotechnical drilling and heap-leach optimization studies on site at Round Top in the first half of 2026. Outputs from the demonstration run will feed into a two-phase DFS, with initial results covering scope typically addressed in a pre-feasibility study, and final confirmation enabling construction to begin in early 2027 for targeted heavy rare earth oxide production in late 2028.
3. Well-Funded Pre-Revenue Company Progresses Toward Commercialization
Although USA Rare Earth remains pre-revenue, the company has invested more than $21 million in development through the first nine months of 2025 and reported $400 million in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet as of its third-quarter earnings report in November. The strong cash position, bolstered by a successful capital raise during its stock rally last year, underpins ongoing pilot-plant operations, engineering studies and site preparation at Round Top. Management emphasizes that these steps are critical to de-risking the project and meeting growing demand for non-China–sourced critical minerals in defense, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing markets.