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France
USA Rare Earth — LCM Europe
Planned rare-earth metal and complex-alloy producer for USA Rare Earth's European operations, distinct from and co-located with Carester's oxide-processing plant at the same site.
At a glance
- Founded
- Not established in public sources — LCM Europe SAS was announced 20 January 2026 as a new USA Rare Earth subsidiary; no separate incorporation date has been published.
- Headquarters
- Lacq, France (planned site; no construction start published)
- Ownership
- Wholly owned subsidiary of USA Rare Earth, Inc. (Nasdaq: USAR), and a separate legal entity and facility from Less Common Metals Ltd. (LCM UK), USA Rare Earth's existing Ellesmere Port, England subsidiary.
- Stage
- Early stage. Announced in January 2026 as a planned metal and alloy plant at Lacq, with no investment decision or date.
- Listing
- Nasdaq: USAR
Listed through its parent or partner.
Investor relations - Revenue
- Not publicly disclosed. This company does not publish revenue and no named third party has published an estimate of it.
A pre-construction project with no independent operating history; not attributable within USA Rare Earth's consolidated results.
Capacity
Each date below links to the document the figure came from. A capacity figure with no source is not on this page.
| What | Figure | Status | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planned rare-earth metal and complex-alloy plant, Lacq, France | approximately 3,750 t/yr, across light and heavy rare earth metals and complex alloy systems | Announced | 2026-01-20 |
Narrative
USA Rare Earth announced LCM Europe SAS on 20 January 2026 as a new subsidiary that will build a rare-earth metal and complex-alloy plant at Lacq, France, with French government support under the C3IV program: credits for up to 45% of eligible equipment costs, plus up to EUR 130 million toward real estate. The project is planned for roughly 3,750 metric tons per year of capacity across light and heavy rare earth metals and complex alloy systems, at an estimated total cost of EUR 110 million and 100 to 140 jobs. It sits on the same site as, but is a legally separate facility from, Carester's Caremag plant, which processes rare earth oxides and is separately on track for late-2026 commissioning. As of September 2026, no construction start, groundbreaking, or commissioning date has been published for LCM Europe itself. LCM Europe should not be confused with Less Common Metals Ltd., USA Rare Earth's existing UK subsidiary in Ellesmere Port, which already operates a rare earth metal and alloy plant.
Latest reports
| Period | Published | Report |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 (quarter to 30 Jun 2026) | 2026-08-10 | USA Rare Earth Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results |
| Q1 2026 (quarter to 31 Mar 2026) | 2026-05-13 | USA Rare Earth Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results |
| Q4 and FY 2025 (year to 31 Dec 2025) | 2026-03-30 | USA Rare Earth Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Financial Results |
| Q3 2025 (quarter to 30 Sep 2025) | 2025-11-06 | USA Rare Earth Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results |
Across these reports
USA Rare Earth moved from a pre-revenue company to one with LCM metals revenue of about US$5.7-5.8M per quarter, commissioned Stillwater Phase 1a in March 2026 as targeted, and raised cash from US$257.6M to US$1.53B while operating losses widened. It closed the Serra Verde acquisition on 3 Sep 2026 and announced Blacksburg, SC (commissioning 2028) and a France expansion for LCM, while the Round Top study timetable moved to publication in Q1 2027.
| Measure | What the reports show |
|---|---|
| Revenue (US$, from LCM after its acquisition closed in November 2025) | Nil before the LCM acquisition → US$1.6M (FY2025) → US$5.7M (Q1 26) → US$5.8M (Q2 26, vs nil in Q2 25). |
| Operating loss (quarterly, US$) | US$15.9M (Q3 25) → US$36.7M (Q1 26) → US$46.3M (Q2 26, vs US$8.8M in Q2 25); FY2025 US$59.5M. |
| Cash and cash equivalents | US$257.6M (30 Sep 25) → US$359.9M (31 Dec 25) → US$1.75B (31 Mar 26) → US$1,530.1M (30 Jun 26). |
| Capital expenditures | US$37.4M (FY2025) → US$38.6M (Q1 26) → US$108.4M (H1 26). |
| Stillwater, OK magnet manufacturing capacity (capacity, t/yr) | Phase 1a commissioned March 2026; targeted 600 t/yr run-rate by end of Q4 2026 and 1,200 t/yr total with Phase 1b in Q1 2027 (Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 reports); 600 t/yr Q4 2026 target restated in Q2 2026 report. No magnet production or LCM metal/alloy volumes disclosed. |
Stated dates
| Target | First stated | Now | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioning of commercial-scale magnet production at Stillwater, OK (Phase 1a) | Q1 2026 (Q3 2025 report, 2025-11-06) | achieved March 2026 (announced 2026-03-26; Q4 2025 report) | met |
| Stillwater run-rate magnet capacity of 600 t/yr | end of Q4 2026 (Q4 2025 report, 2026-03-30) | Q4 2026 (Q2 2026 report) | not yet due |
| Round Top, TX study completion | Pre-Feasibility Study in 2H 2026 (Q3 2025 report, 2025-11-06) | Definitive Feasibility Study completion Q4 2026, publication Q1 2027 (Q1 and Q2 2026 reports); commercial production targeted late 2028 (Q4 2025 report) | moved later |
| Close of ~US$2.8B acquisition of Serra Verde Group (Brazil) | Q3 2026 (definitive agreement release, 2026-04-20) | achieved 3 Sep 2026 (Q2 2026 report of 2026-08-10 had said 'by the end of August') | met |
| Blacksburg, SC facility (6,400 t/yr NdFeB magnets; 5,000 t/yr strip-cast, metal and alloy) commissioning | commissioning 'targeted to begin in 2028' (Q2 2026 report, 2026-08-10) | 2028 | not yet due |
Figures are as the company reported them, linked to each report. This summarizes what changed between reports; it is not a view on the company or its shares.
Fact checks from the digest
Claims made about this company that the weekly digest has put against this atlas, newest first. The verdict and the working are here in full; the issue each came from is for subscribers.
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A 3,750 metric ton a year metal and alloy plant at Lacq that the atlas did not have at all
My claim, so it gets the same treatment. Two near misses, both on our own atlas, and neither one closes the gap. Neo's Silmet in Estonia separates to oxide at 3,200 t/yr nameplate — and carries no metal or alloy line. LCM's own Ellesmere Port makes 2,500 t/yr of metal and alloy — and does no separation. Each site does one of the two steps.
Lacq would do both on one piece of ground. Japan already does, at Shin-Etsu's Takefu works, which is why the claim carries the awkward “outside Japan” rather than being tidier.
Sources
- Press release — USA Rare Earth, Inc. (GlobeNewswire) (2026-01-20)
- Industry coverage — Fastmarkets (2026-09)
How this page is sourced
Everything here comes from public sources — company filings, annual reports, exchange announcements, government releases and trade press. Every figure is linked to the document it came from and carries the date that document was published, because a capacity number without a date is not a fact, it is a rumor with a decimal point.
What is deliberately absent: material nonpublic information. I have spent more than two decades in this industry and a good deal of what I know about these companies I learned under NDA. Those obligations do not expire and they do not bend for a website. Nothing I have been told in confidence appears here in any form, and nothing on this page — or missing from it — should be read as a signal about what I know privately. I hold NDAs absolutely. It is the reason clients tell me things.
Judgment is the other thing left out on purpose. This page reports what has been published and who published it. Whether a target is credible, whether a ramp will hold, whether a capacity figure survives contact with the plant behind it — that is the work I do for clients, and it does not belong in a free reference page.
Where public sources disagree, I say so rather than picking a winner. Where a figure has not been published, the field says so rather than carrying an estimate. An empty field is information too.
Public filings tell you what a company has said. Whether it holds up is a different question, and the one I get hired to answer.
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