Nasdaq-listed REalloys, a US-based mine-to-magnet rare earths company, has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US Critical Materials Corp (USCM), owner of the Sheep Creek rare earths project in Ravalli county, in Montana, in the US.

The MoU establishes a framework for REalloys to secure up to 10% offtake from Sheep Creek, the highest-grade rare earths deposit in the US, feeding domestically sourced heavy rare earths material directly into REalloys' advanced midstream and downstream operations to supply US strategic defence stockpiles.

Sheep Creek averages about 9% total rare earth oxide (TREO) – 89 932 parts per million – across a 7 277.5-acre land package with over 60 identified carbonatite formations – independently verified by Activation Laboratories and Idaho National Laboratory.

REalloys notes that the deposit contains confirmed dysprosium and terbium, the two most strategically sensitive heavy rare earth elements (HREE) powering high-performance permanent magnets in F-35 fighter aircraft, missile guidance systems, radar platforms and virtually every advanced US defence platform.

At 10% offtake from a deposit of this grade and scale, REalloys says it gains a potentially material and strategic domestic feedstock source to complement its diversified global allied-nation supply network – adding a critical domestic anchor as procurement restrictions on Chinese-sourced rare earths take full effect in 2027.

The MoU also establishes a framework for potential strategic equity investment and equity exchange, joint pursuit of government financing and coordinated government relations – presenting the US Congress and the executive branch with a unified, fully domestic HREE supply chain.

"While others rely on a single source for their rare earth feedstock, REalloys is executing a fundamentally different strategy – partnering with the highest-grade developers across allied nations to build a diversified supply network specifically designed to counteract Chinese dominance.

"Working closely with our partners in government and across the Defence Industrial Base, we are identifying the strategic assets that plug into our advanced midstream and downstream ecosystem to fortify supply chain security for protected and strategic markets, with zero Chinese involvement at any stage,” says REalloys CEO Lipi Sternheim.

"Sheep Creek is America's rare earth answer to Chinese supply dominance," adds USCM executive chairperson Harvey Kaye.

“The US cannot claim critical mineral sovereignty while depending on foreign adversaries for the heavy rare earths that guide our missiles, power our fighter jets and drive every advanced defence platform in our arsenal.

“Sheep Creek changes that equation. It is the highest-grade rare earths deposit in the country, it is fully domestic and it is now connected to the only midstream and metallisation platform in the western hemisphere capable of converting that resource into defence-ready metals.

“That is what national security looks like in practice and that is exactly what this partnership delivers,” he says.

Under the terms of the MoU, the parties will advance metallurgical testwork, optimise HREE processing flowsheets and negotiate a definitive long-term offtake agreement, with reasonable efforts to execute an offtake agreement within one year of the MoU signing.