00:00Why Sierra Verde? What did you get access to with this with this deal? Oh, Sierra Verde is a
00:04it's Sierra Verde is a completely unique deposit. It's the only deposit outside of Asia that has
00:11access to all four magnetic rare earths. What that means is we get access to the materials
00:16that for decades have been controlled by China. The other thing that's unique about this
00:22arrangement is that they have just come to an agreement with a special purpose vehicle
00:27backed by the U.S. government as well as private investors that assures 100 percent offtake over
00:35a 15 year period with floor prices for all four of those magnetic rare earths. And I know that this
00:41is important for the U.S. government, certainly important for your company, too, because China
00:45still supplies just so much of the world and the United States rare earth. How much further do we
00:51have to go to get anything that looks like independence from China? Well, we're at the very
00:56early innings of this. Really, China set this as an objective decades ago. They declared the Middle
01:03East has oil. China has rare earths. And now we've seen how that monopoly has been used for statecraft.
01:09And it's important that we just take this game piece off the board. So I'm really thrilled that the
01:16Sierra Verde group recognized the opportunity. They saw that as we grow physical AI, as we grow the new
01:23technologies the world has today, there would be more demand for these elements. And over a long period,
01:2916 years, they've been investing in the mine Pela Ema in Brazil near the town of Minnesota. The team
01:37that's down there are experts in mining. They've got this incredibly sustainable approach that they're
01:44using. And we're ready now to move into scaled up operation. And with that, we're able to begin to
01:51break that stranglehold. So how much of this deal was done with the pipe that came with the government
01:57LOI? How important were they in this? Well, the we actually announced our deal that the Department of
02:02Commerce intends to invest in USA rare earth. But alongside that, the deal was we must raise private
02:10capital. And in fact, it's that capital that's fueling our broader ambitions. Now, when the deal
02:17closes with the Department of Commerce, we'll be applying that to the domestic production. Round Top
02:22Mountain in Sierra Blanca, Texas, our separation facilities right now being demonstrated in Wheat Ridge,
02:29Colorado, and magnet making in Stillwater, Oklahoma. So with the balance sheet that we currently have,
02:36the strength of that pipe that we've raised, we've been able to engage in this. And together,
02:43this is the value proposition. This represents a platform across the entire value chain.
02:50Dana, you might have seen that earlier we announced first the acquisition of less common metals. Yes.
02:55Maybe the weakest link in the chain. But then we announced just recently the and our investment
03:01alongside the French government with Infravia. Right. For Carister, a processor of heavy rare
03:08earths in the south of France. What we're doing is we're tapping into the best minds that exist
03:15anywhere in the world so that we can recreate this value chain and actually grow the platform that will
03:21scale. So the growth that you've under undergone in the deals that you've done has been really
03:25incredible to keep track of and watch. So what's next, Barbara? Where else are the kind of missing links
03:30in the chain that you want to fill? Yeah, we know there's more to do. We know there's more to
03:34do.
03:34There's been a tremendous amount of friction in the value chain. And so we know that there are deposits
03:40coming online over time. And we should obviously be mindful of where a partnership with USA Rare Earth
03:47could be meaningful. We also know that downstream there are magnet makers in search of a reliable
03:54supply chain so they can achieve their scaling objectives. But the real key is we're going to grow organically
03:59in processing wherever it needs to be matched up with deposits as well as metal making.
04:05Our metal makers in Cheshire, England are getting ready to start the apprenticeship program that will
04:10train folks from Oklahoma and folks from France in the metal making techniques that will unleash that
04:17capability. Wow. Are they going to be in the same room, the people from France and Oklahoma? I feel like
04:22there might be a little bit of a language and maybe cultural barrier. But I think that a single mission
04:27unites the entire company.
04:29Finally.
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