Niron lands conditional $150M loan for rare-earth-free magnet plant
What's the deal? Niron Magnetics has secured a conditional commitment for a direct loan of up to $150 million from the Department of WarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s Office of Strategic CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The 20-year loan would fund construction and equipment for the company's manufacturing plant in Sartell, Minnesota.
What does Niron do? It makes Iron Nitride permanent magnets, developed at the University of Minnesota and scaled over the past 13 years. Unlike conventional magnets, they require no rare earth materials, using domestically sourced iron and nitrogen instead.
Why now? Permanent magnets are essential to defence systems, data centres, robotics, aerospace, and electric motors — but most are produced overseas. The loan reflects the US government's growing focus on securing domestic production and reducing exposure to foreign export controls and rare earth price volatility.
The bigger picture: The commitment was announced by President Donald J. TrumpDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → at the American Mining Industry gathering in Washington DC. At $150 million, the debt round sits in roughly the 96th percentile of all-time US deep tech debt deals.
What's the endgame? The Sartell plant will be operational in 2027, creating up to 175 full-time jobs. It marks Niron's first commercial-scale Iron Nitride production, with expansion planning already underway.
"Permanent magnets are foundational to the technologies driving America's economic competitiveness and national security," said Jonathan Rowntree, chief executive officer of Niron Magnetics. He called the technology "a domestic path to high-performance permanent magnets built without rare earth materials."
The signal: Rather than reshoring a rare earth supply chain, Niron aims to sidestep it entirely. Federal backing at this scale signals that Washington sees magnet supply as a strategic vulnerability worth funding directly.
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
Read more: PR Newswire
