The Daily Dig:
Cyclic Materials announced plans on January 29, 2026 to invest over $82 million in a rare earth recycling campus in McBee, South Carolina. The facility combines the company's second U.S. Spoke location with its largest Hub to date as Cyclic scales domestic rare earth recovery.
The campus will process 2,000 tonnes of magnet material annually, expanding to 6,000 tonnes. Using MagCycle and REEPure technologies, Cyclic will extract Mixed Rare Earth Oxides (MREO), targeting heavy rare earth elements. Initial output is projected at 600 tonnes of MREO per year, scaling to 1,800 tonnes. At full capacity, the facility would produce rare earth material equivalent to roughly 6 million hybrid transmissions annually. Operations are expected to begin in 2028, creating over 90 jobs with support from federal and state incentives.
Snapshot:
Company: Cyclic Materials
Announcement date: January 29, 2026
Investment: More than $82 million
Location: McBee, Chesterfield County, South Carolina
Facility type: Combined Spoke (second U.S. Spoke) and Hub (largest Hub to date)
Technology: MagCycle and REEPure
Magnet material processing: 2,000 tonnes/year planned; expansion to 6,000 tonnes/year
Product: Recycled Mixed Rare Earth Oxides (MREO)
MREO output: 600 tonnes/year initially; planned expansion to 1,800 tonnes/year
Expanded output equivalency: Rare earth material for 6 million hybrid transmissions/year
Feedstock: End-of-life products typically not recycled today; magnet production byproducts (swarf)
Operations start: Expected 2028
Operational Jobs: Over 90
Incentives: Supported by federal and state incentives
TheJobWalk Thoughts:
Process facilities like this get scoped from the inside out. Early money goes to electrical infrastructure, equipment foundations, and process piping, not the building. The phased capacity ramp means scope gets bid in waves as equipment gets staged and installed, not as one package. That 10 year VAC deal for swarf recycling is the real tell. When your anchor customer is already committed to feeding you 100% of their scrap from a facility next door, you're not guessing at utilization or chasing contracts to fill capacity. You're engineering to a locked feed rate from day one, which means the owner can move faster and expect more. If you're positioning for this work, understand that the numbers are already set. They're not workshopping the business case with their GC.
