Critical Metals plc has secured a landmark 10-year supply agreement with Ucore Rare Metals, marking a major step in efforts to diversify the United States’ rare earth supply chains away from China. Under the deal, Critical Metals will deliver up to 10,000 metric tons of heavy rare earth concentrate annually from the Tanbreez project in Greenland to Ucore’s Louisiana-based processing facility. This facility, backed by an $18.4 million U.S. Department of Defense grant, is central to America’s strategy of establishing a secure and independent domestic processing capacity for critical minerals.
The arrangement will begin with smaller shipments in 2026, gradually scaling up to full contracted volumes by 2028. The Tanbreez deposit is considered one of the largest, rare-earth resources outside China, making it strategically valuable for Western supply diversification. Beyond volume, the project’s location in Greenland strengthens alignment among U.S. allies, ensuring that raw materials are sourced from politically stable and environmentally regulated jurisdictions rather than from regions where supply can be weaponized for geopolitical leverage.
This agreement is strategically important because it directly tackles one of the biggest vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain: near-total dependence on China for rare earths. By anchoring a steady flow of materials from Greenland into a domestically supported processing plant, Washington gains a reliable non-Chinese source for the magnets and components essential to defense systems, electric vehicles, and renewable energy technologies. It also sets a precedent for how allied nations can pool resources to reduce exposure to geopolitical risk, making the Critical Metals–Ucore deal not just a commercial contract, but a template for future Western mineral alliances.