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USA Rare Earth said on April 20 that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire Brazil's Serra Verde Group for about $2.8 billion, a deal that would place one of the West's most strategically watched rare earth assets under US control.
Serra Verde owns the Pela Ema mine in Goiás state, central Brazil. According to the companies and Brazilian news outlets covering the transaction, the operation is the only large-scale producer outside Asia of four magnetic rare earth elements considered essential for high-performance magnets. Those materials are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and defense equipment.
The structure of the transaction combines $300 million in cash with roughly 126.8 million to 126.9 million newly issued USA Rare Earth shares, depending on the source's rounding. The companies said the closing is expected in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions.
The acquisition matters well beyond Brazilian mining. Rare earth supply chains are heavily concentrated in China, especially in processing and refining. That has pushed the United States and its allies to look for alternative suppliers of the materials needed for advanced manufacturing and military systems.
USA Rare Earth said Serra Verde could account for more than 50% of heavy rare earth supply outside China by 2027. If that forecast holds, the Brazilian asset would become a cornerstone of Western efforts to diversify away from Chinese dominance in the sector.
The companies also framed the deal as a vertical integration play. The combined group said it aims to operate across the chain, from mining and processing to the production of metals and magnets. Serra Verde chief executive Thras Moraitis is set to become president of the US company and join its board, while Serra Verde chair Mick Davis is also expected to join the board.
The transaction follows a broader wave of US government-backed financing in the sector. G1 reported that USA Rare Earth agreed in January to a $1.6 billion financing package with the US government, while Serra Verde secured $565 million in Washington-backed funding in February. Poder360 reported that Serra Verde also has a 15-year supply agreement tied to a special-purpose vehicle capitalized by multiple US government entities and private investors.
That financing history underlines how rare earths have moved from a niche mining story to a national-security issue. Heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium are difficult to replace in some advanced applications, and supply disruptions can affect industries far beyond consumer electronics.
For Brazil, the deal highlights both opportunity and a long-running gap. The country holds one of the world's largest rare earth reserves, but its production base remains small. Serra Verde's emergence as a commercially operating mine has therefore given Brazil a larger role in a strategic market that is increasingly shaped by geopolitics as much as by commodity economics.