The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) announced today a $150 million conditional loan commitment to Niron Magnetics, Inc. (Niron) to build out the company's rare earth-free magnet production capabilities.
Founded in 2014, Niron is a private U.S. corporation headquartered in Minnesota. The company seeks to eliminate dependence on rare earth magnets sourced from foreign jurisdictions. Niron's magnets are revolutionary because they do not use rare earths, yet they provide similar, and in some cases superior, performance and physical properties compared to rare earth magnets.
Niron develops and manufactures 100% domestic, rare earth-free permanent magnets, eliminating reliance on foreign-dominated supply chains. Built on over a decade of research and development, Niron's magnets offer a path to ending dependency on foreign-produced rare earth magnets. Niron circumvents the concentrated and vulnerable rare earth supply chain by synthesizing magnets from domestically abundant commodity inputs, specifically iron and nitrogen.
Niron recently completed a two-year pilot project with the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which facilitated the manufacture of 1 to 2 tons per year of rare earth-free magnets. Niron is now seeking to produce its magnets at scale. Alongside private capital, OSC's proposed financing will support the construction of a $605 million manufacturing plant in Sartell, Minnesota, capable of producing up to 1,500 tons of rare earth-free magnets annually.
"OSC's commitment to Niron directly aligns with President Donald J. Trump's mandate for the Department of War to leverage advanced commercial technology to maintain military capabilities while rapidly onshoring critical supply chains," said David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg. "By supporting the establishment of a wholly domestic, rare earth-free permanent magnet manufacturing facility, this transaction mitigates a key supply chain vulnerability, bolsters U.S. industrial resilience against geopolitical disruptions, and ensures that next-generation technologies are powered by secure, domestically sourced components."
"With the conditional loan commitment to Niron, OSC is seeking to advance President Donald J. Trump's priority of securing a domestic supply chain for high-performance magnets, which are ubiquitous across commercial and defense applications," said Asad Akram, Managing Director and Co-Head of Critical Minerals at OSC.
"High-performance magnets are integral to the U.S. economy and defense industrial base, and their importance is only going to grow on account of electrification, robotics, and defense modernization," said Peter B. Zuckerman, Senior Managing Director at OSC.
"I applaud OSC for its continued focus on investments that deliver impact to the industrial base and shoring up supply chain vulnerabilities," said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. "Rare earth-free magnets will reduce dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains and help equip the warfighter with more capable systems that enhance battlefield lethality."
The conditional loan commitment between OSC and Niron specifies customary additional steps the company must take to proceed toward financial close, including satisfying financial, legal, technical, and other requirements.
In FY 2026, OSC has committed over $8.4 billion in debt financing and has successfully mobilized over $17.8 billion in total capital from the public and private sectors to support the American industrial base.