On a crisp October afternoon in Exeter, New Hampshire, the air carried the scent of kettle corn and the hum of live music. Children clutched plush toys won at carnival booths, and neighbors gathered around food trucks, their breath visible in the cooling air. But this was no ordinary fall festival. The real attraction stood behind the festivities: a newly opened warehouse that may soon become one of the most consequential rare earth processing facilities in the United States.
Inside the modest industrial building, Phoenix Tailings, a Massachusetts-based startup, has begun refining rare earth metals, materials essential to modern technologies, from electric vehicles and wind turbines to smartphones and military aircraft. The company’s Exeter facility is now producing neodymium-praseodymium and dysprosium-iron alloy, metals used in high-performance magnets. These magnets are the quiet workhorses of the energy transition, enabling everything from efficient motors to advanced medical devices. Yet, until recently, nearly all of these materials were processed overseas, primarily in China.
That dependence has long troubled policymakers and environmentalists alike. The environmental costs of rare earth mining and processing are steep, often involving toxic waste, radioactive byproducts, and heavy reliance on fossil fuels. In China, where most of the world’s rare earths are refined, communities near processing plants have faced serious health and ecological consequences. Phoenix Tailings claims to offer a different path, one that is cleaner, domestic, and circular in its approach.
The company’s name itself hints at its mission. “Tailings” refers to the waste left behind by mining operations. Rather than sourcing raw materials through new extraction, Phoenix Tailings aims to reclaim value from what others have discarded. Though the company has not disclosed the exact origin of its current feedstock, it emphasizes that none of its inputs, equipment, or technology come from China. The goal is to build a fully American supply chain, one that can support national industries while minimizing environmental harm.
Walking through the Exeter facility, one sees towering white bags of powdery feedstock stacked on pallets. This material, which resembles dirt to the untrained eye, is rich in rare earth elements. The process begins by heating the feedstock in a specialized furnace. The resulting material is then transferred to a metallization machine, where it becomes a molten liquid before being cast into metal bars. Alongside this process, a series of cylindrical tanks scrub the air, capturing and neutralizing harmful gases that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere.
According to the company, this closed-loop system allows them to operate safely even in residential neighborhoods. The scrubbers not only prevent toxic emissions but also generate byproducts that can be reused or sold to other manufacturers. While details about these byproducts remain proprietary, Phoenix Tailings has filed documentation with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services indicating that it produces less than 100 kilograms of hazardous waste per month, including used oil and absorbent materials. The company says it recycles this waste on-site.
Still, the label of “zero emissions” comes with caveats. The company does not include emissions from electricity use, transportation, or upstream mining in its calculations. These stages, often the most environmentally damaging, remain outside the facility’s control. A representative acknowledged this gap and said the company is working backward to eventually clean up the entire supply chain. It’s a lofty ambition, but one that reflects a growing awareness that sustainability must be holistic, not just local.
In the broader context of rare earth production, Phoenix Tailings is a small player. But its presence in New Hampshire is part of a larger shift. Across the United States, new facilities are emerging with the aim of reducing reliance on foreign sources. The federal government has signaled support for this movement, backing companies like MP Materials, which operates a mine in California and a processing plant in Texas. These efforts are not just about economics, they are about resilience, sovereignty, and environmental responsibility.
Yet the path forward is uncertain. Rare earth processing is notoriously complex and expensive. Of the 17 elements classified as rare earths, only a few are commercially valuable, and separating them requires intricate chemical procedures. China has spent decades perfecting this process, and its dominance in the market allows it to undercut competitors. If geopolitical winds shift or demand falters, fledgling American operations could struggle to stay afloat.
Even so, the Exeter facility represents a hopeful experiment. It suggests that with the right combination of innovation, regulation, and community engagement, it is possible to bring critical industries home without repeating the environmental mistakes of the past. For residents of the Upper Valley and beyond, it offers a glimpse of what a more sustainable industrial future might look like, one rooted not in extraction, but in regeneration.
As the sun dipped below the horizon that October day, casting long shadows across the parking lot, the crowd lingered. Children played, neighbors chatted, and a ribbon was cut. It was a small ceremony, but it marked the beginning of something much larger: a reimagining of how we source the materials that power our lives. In a world increasingly defined by scarcity and disruption, the quiet hum of a furnace in Exeter may yet become a beacon of possibility.
