USA Rare Earth Inc has selected Fluor Corp along with WSP Global Inc as its engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) partners to advance the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Round Top rare earth project in Texas, USA.
Fluor and WSP are globally recognised leaders in mining, processing and large-scale infrastructure delivery, with experience executing complex, multi-year projects totaling tens of billions of dollars across North America and internationally. Their selection, following a thorough evaluation of bids from multiple vendors, brings substantial technical, engineering and execution capabilities to Round Top, supporting an accelerated and disciplined path toward commercial production, the company says.
USA Rare Earth says its Round Top deposit hosts 15 of the 17 rare earth elements, including all heavy rare earth elements, as well as other high-tech metals such as gallium, hafnium, zirconium, beryllium and lithium. Long-term, it intends to use the ore processed from this deposit in its magnet facility in Oklahoma, and supply other industries including the US defense industry, with critical minerals.
To move the Round Top project forward more quickly while maintaining required technical standards, the company is following what it says is an Accelerated Mine Plan. As part of this plan, it intends to complete the first phase of its DFS using results from its solvent extraction (SX) pilot work, which is already underway at the company’s facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This first phase will cover the same scope typically addressed in a prefeasibility study.
At the same time, the company plans to operate its demonstration plant in Wheat Ridge, Colorado for at least 2,000 continuous hours, with operations currently expected to conclude in October 2026. Data generated during this run will be used to complete the second phase of the DFS.
In parallel, USA Rare Earth plans to carry out confirmatory and geotechnical drilling at Round Top in the first half of 2026, along with a heap leach optimisation study, to support mine design and engineering. Together, these efforts are intended to support progress toward commercial production of heavy rare earth oxides, currently targeted for late 2028.
Alex Moyes, Vice President of Mining & Processing at USA Rare Earth, said: “Fluor and WSP are key partners with the experience and expertise required to move Round Top toward commercial delivery. Their teams know how to deliver complex mining and processing projects, and that matters as we work to bring a secure, domestic supply of heavy rare earth elements, inclusive of yttrium, into production, along with critical technology metals such as hafnium, zirconium and gallium. This is another step toward strengthening the US rare earth value chain at a time when reliability and resilience are increasingly important.”
