ElementUSA has announced an $850 million investment to develop a rare earth and critical minerals refining facility in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, significantly strengthening the U.S. supply chain for materials essential to advanced manufacturing, national defense, and energy technologies.
The project is expected to create 200 direct jobs with an average annual salary of $90,000, around 28% higher than the parish average wage. Louisiana Economic Development (LED) estimates the investment will also generate 554 indirect jobs, bringing the total employment impact to approximately 754 new jobs across the Southeast Region.
ElementUSA will deploy its proprietary extraction technologies to recover gallium, scandium, iron, and other critical minerals from more than 30 million tons of bauxite residue, a byproduct of alumina refining. As part of the development pathway, the company will first build a demonstration facility in St. James Parish, supported by a $29.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of War, to validate the extraction process and inform the design of a future commercial-scale plant.
Once fully developed, the St. John Parish facility is expected to process over one million tons of bauxite residue annually, producing strategic minerals that are vital to semiconductors, defense systems, and energy infrastructure. Construction of the demonstration plant is scheduled to begin in mid-2027, with initial production targeted for Q3 2028.
State and local leaders highlighted the project’s role in reinforcing domestic supply chains, advancing national security, and delivering high-quality jobs. Louisiana supported the investment with a competitive incentives package, including LED FastStart workforce training, a $6 million performance-based grant for infrastructure improvements, and participation in the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
Since first announcing its plans in 2021, ElementUSA has steadily advanced its technology and resource assessments, positioning the Louisiana projects as a cornerstone of the company’s Waste2Market strategy—recovering critical minerals from secondary sources to accelerate U.S. self-reliance while reducing environmental impact.