The race to build an independent rare-earth supply chain is increasingly bringing European and US strategies together, with France emerging as a potential processing hub linking resources from the Americas to European industry. A notable example is the developing partnership between USA Rare Earth, Carester and InfraVia around the Caremag project at Lacq in southwestern France.
USA Rare Earth and European infrastructure investor InfraVia are each acquiring stakes of approximately 13.6% in Carester, which is developing the Caremag rare-earth separation facility. At the same location, USA Rare Earth’s LCM Europe subsidiary is planning a metals and alloys plant with targeted annual capacity of approximately 3,750 tonnes. Together, the projects could form the foundation of an integrated transatlantic supply chain stretching from mineral resources to processed rare-earth materials.
Building a Supply Chain Beyond China
Potential feedstock could eventually come from projects such as Serra Verde in Brazil and Round Top in Texas. The material could then be processed and separated in France before being supplied to manufacturers producing permanent magnets and other industrial applications. The strategy addresses one of Europe’s most important vulnerabilities.
The challenge facing the rare-earth industry is not simply the availability of deposits. Rare-earth ores must undergo technically complex separation processes before individual elements such as neodymium and praseodymium can be converted into metals, alloys and permanent magnets. China maintains a dominant position across much of this processing chain. For Europe, developing mines without establishing domestic separation and downstream processing would therefore provide only limited strategic independence.
France Could Become a Rare-Earth Processing Hub
The Caremag project is designed to address part of that gap by bringing separation capacity closer to European manufacturers. France offers several potential advantages, including established chemical-processing expertise and access to relatively low-carbon electricity. These factors could support the development of a competitive European refining and processing centre.
If Caremag and the associated metals and alloys facility reach commercial operation, Lacq could become an important link between mineral resources in Brazil and North America and European manufacturing. That would give Europe greater access to processed rare-earth materials without relying entirely on Asian processing capacity.
US and European Strategies Converge
The investment also illustrates a changing approach to critical minerals. European policy has traditionally placed strong emphasis on domestic projects, permitting and environmental standards. The United States has increasingly pursued a more interventionist strategy, seeking to secure both upstream resources and downstream processing capabilities.
USA Rare Earth’s expansion into France reflects that transatlantic convergence. Although processing infrastructure would be located in Europe, ownership, investment and potential feedstock sources could span multiple continents. This could strengthen Western supply-chain resilience, while also raising questions about how much control European industry ultimately retains over critical mineral supply.
Infrastructure Investors Enter Critical Minerals
InfraVia’s involvement highlights another important development: institutional investors are increasingly viewing critical-mineral processing as a form of strategic infrastructure. Rare-earth separation facilities require significant upfront investment, long operating lives and reliable relationships with suppliers and customers. Those characteristics can make such projects attractive to infrastructure-focused investors seeking exposure to strategically important industrial assets.
For Europe, the participation of institutional capital could become increasingly important as governments attempt to develop domestic supply chains without relying exclusively on public funding.
The Next Battle Is Beyond Mining
The emerging Caremag ecosystem demonstrates that the competition over rare earths is moving beyond individual mines. Control over mineral resources is only the first stage. The strategically important stages include separation, metal production, alloy manufacturing and permanent-magnet production.
That distinction is crucial for sectors such as electric vehicles, wind power, robotics, electronics and defence, where high-performance permanent magnets are increasingly important. For Europe, establishing a meaningful position across these stages could determine how much strategic autonomy it achieves in the global critical-minerals market.
USA Rare Earth’s growing presence in France suggests that the future supply chain may not be exclusively European or American. Instead, it could become a connected transatlantic network linking resources, processing and manufacturing across several jurisdictions. If Caremag and the associated Lacq projects succeed, France could emerge as a significant European node in that network — helping build a more diversified world supply of rare-earth materials and reducing dependence on China’s dominant processing industry.
