News: MEI UPDATE 1-Australia's Meteoric ties with Brazilian state for rare earth magnets

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MELBOURNE, June 25 (Reuters) - Rare earth developer Meteoric Resources (MEI) will collaborate with a regional department of Brazil's Minas Gerais state to explore the production of rare earth magnets, the Australian company said on Tuesday.

Meteoric is developing its Caldeira rare earths deposit in Minas Gerais and aims to start mixed rare earth carbonate production there in the second half of 2027.

It has signed a preliminary agreement that includes raw material supply to the Lab Fab permanent magnet facility for the pilot production of rare earth magnets, Meteoric said in a filing to the Australian stock exchange.

Lab Fab is a permanent magnet technology developer backed by Minas Gerais that aims to stimulate the industry to scale up to produce magnets for car manufacturers, electric motors and wind turbine industries.

It is the first permanent magnet facility in Latin America and will begin operations later this year. It has an initial capacity to produce 100 tonnes of permanent magnets per year, with plans to double that within the first three years.

Meteoric has a preliminary supply deal with Canada's Neo Performance Materials NEO.TO and has also been awarded $250 million in preliminary support from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM).