Vulcan Elements teams up with North Carolina researchers to advance rare earth magnets tech
The company said the partnership converges two research fields that are foundational to national security: rare earth magnets and quantum mechanics.
Vulcan Elements has joined forces with the North Carolina Collaboratory to enhance the development of high-performance rare earth magnets for defense and commercial use. This collaboration combines two crucial areas of research: rare earth magnets and quantum mechanics. The partnership unites Vulcan's manufacturing expertise with the scientific knowledge of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led by chemistry professor Yosuke Kanai.
Kanai's team will utilize quantum-mechanical simulations to predict changes in magnetic properties at the atomic level with remarkable accuracy. The Collaboratory is contributing a $600,000 research award to support this innovation. The North Carolina Collaboratory, established in 2016, has managed over $300 million in state funding and supported more than 800 research projects.
Vulcan's CEO, John Maslin, emphasized the significance of this public-private partnership in generating groundbreaking technologies and translating them into practical manufacturing capabilities that benefit the economy and national security. Jeff Warren, executive director of the North Carolina Collaboratory, highlighted North Carolina's potential role in the expanding sector of rare earth magnets, which are essential for a wide range of technologies, including semiconductors, robotics, automobiles, drones, and military systems.
In 2025, Vulcan entered into a $1.4 billion collaboration with refiner ReElement Technologies and the U.S. government to build a domestic rare earth magnet supply chain, with the Commerce Department and Pentagon providing financial support and potential equity stakes. Vulcan asserts that it is currently the sole rare earth magnet company globally that is independent of China, encompassing material, technology, software, intellectual property, and ownership.
The company's planned 1.1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Benson, North Carolina, will have an annual capacity of 10,000 metric tons of magnet production, supplying magnets for defense systems, semiconductors, robotics, drones, AI infrastructure, automobiles, and other strategic technologies.
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