Highlights

• Caldera's Missouri-based Pea Ridge mine is a permitted, economically viable heavy rare earth project that could meet substantial U.S. dysprosium and terbium needs by 2028, filling a critical national security gap.
• Unlike speculative ventures, Caldera offers proven heavy REE resources, existing tailings with recoverable materials, and realistic economics without depending on fantasy pricing or hypothetical markets.
• America's rare earth bottleneck is political, not geological—Caldera represents an underutilized domestic asset ignored due to Pentagon missteps, institutional indifference, and inconsistent industrial policy.

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Every so often in the rare earth sector, a story surfaces that forces a re-evaluation of the narrative. Caldera—the Missouri-based project led by CEO James Kennedy—is one of those stories.

Long overshadowed by Mountain Pass, Lynas, and the geopolitically louder ex-China buildout, Caldera represents something the United States almost never has: a permitted mine on U.S. soil with proven heavy rare earth resources, strong economics tied to existing tailings, and the potential to close a major national-security gap by 2028.

Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) launched just a year ago has chronicled much of America’s midstream and heavy-rare-earth challenges. But Caldera stands out because it challenges one of Washington’s false assumptions: that the U.S. lacks any meaningful heavy rare earth resource of domestic origin. It doesn’t.

One of the most important ones has simply been hiding in Missouri, buried under political inertia, institutional indifference, and years of Pentagon missteps.

From Bankrupt Iron Ore Mine to Heavy Rare Earth Engine

As Kennedy tells it in a REEx interview (opens in a new tab), the Caldera story began almost accidentally. While reviving a bankrupt iron ore operation, the team discovered something far more valuable embedded in the geology: a robust suite of rare earths—including the heavies (Dy, Tb) that represent the critical bottleneck for U.S. defense systems.

Unlike many greenfield rare earth ventures chasing investor hype, Caldera has something far more tangible:

• Permitted operations
• Proven resources in the ground
• Existing tailings with recoverable TREO
• A heavy rare earth profile is almost unheard of in the continental U.S.

This is not a speculative brochure project; it's an underutilized national asset.

America’s Heavy Rare Earth Blind Spot

In the podcast posted Thursday, November 20th, 2025, Kennedy reiterates the point REEx has made repeatedly: America’s rare earth weakness is not geology—it’s policy. For decades, the Pentagon focused narrowly on light rare earths, prioritizing La, Ce, Nd, Pr, while implicitly assuming dysprosium and terbium could always be sourced from China or Myanmar. That strategic error now defines the crisis.

China controls 91%+ of global heavy rare earth separation, and even the most optimistic Western timelines do not meaningfully change this picture before 2030. Caldera is different because it offers near-term domestic heavy REE feed, not just light-REE-rich bastnaesite.

Economic Viability Without Fantasy Pricing

One of the most intriguing elements of Caldera’s model is its economics. The project is not dependent on “heroic” price decks or hypothetical downstream markets. Much of Caldera’s early production economics rely on reprocessing existing tailings, lowering cost, reducing permitting friction, and providing revenue while new circuits come online.

This is exactly the kind of incremental, scalable, and economically rational model the U.S. has largely failed to support.

What Caldera Could Mean by 2028

Kennedy’s assertion that Caldera can meet a substantial portion of U.S. heavy rare earth demand by 2028 is bold—but not delusional. With proper capital and federal partnership, the project could supply:

• A meaningful percentage of the U.S. dysprosium needs for defense systems
• Heavy magnet feedstock for emerging U.S. magnet plants
• A new domestic HREE source to complement Iluka, Carester, Aclara, and MP Materials’ still-uncertain heavy-recovery initiatives

If even half of Caldera’s potential is realized, it would materially reduce U.S. exposure to China’s chokehold on HREEs.

The Real Obstacle: Washington, Not Geology

The most provocative—and accurate—theme of the interview is that America’s bottleneck is political, not geological.

Kennedy points to:

• Pentagon decisions that distorted the REE market for a decade
• DoD and DOE programs that funded light-REE-heavy projects while ignoring heavies
• Inconsistent industrial policy as administrations changed
• A permitting system that rewards delay and punishes urgency

In other words, Caldera did not fail to secure support because it lacked merit. It failed because the U.S. government did not yet have a coherent rare earth strategy.

Finally, under President Donald Trump, this dynamic is changing. Perhaps the advantages of Caldera in the Pea Ridge mine could form the basis of a partnership with MP Materials?

Why Caldera Matters Right Now

As America pours billions into magnets, separation plants, and supply-chain reshoring, resource origin is becoming the choke point. You cannot separate heavies you do not mine. You cannot magnetize dysprosium that doesn’t exist outside China.

Caldera is one of the rare U.S. projects with:

1. Heavy rare earth grades that matter for national security
2. Permits in hand
3. Revenues possible from tailings
4. A realistic 36-month runway
5. A management team that understands both geology and Washington.

That combination is almost unheard of in this sector.

Kennedy and team are currently working on private financing given the politics of DC funding today.

The Bottom Line

America’s rare earth revival has many high-profile players, but few with heavy rare earths, fewer still with permits, and almost none with near-term deliverability. Caldera is an outlier—and if Washington is serious about breaking China’s 91% grip on heavies, it is exactly the kind of project that must not be ignored.

The Mine

The Pea Ridge mine, also called the Caldera mine by its owner, Caldera Holding LLC, is a former iron ore mine in Missouri that also contains significant deposits of REEs. The ore body is located within a collapsed Precambrian caldera, and the mine is being developed for its REE potential in addition to its historical iron production. The mine is being redeveloped by Caldera Holdings to focus on the production of critical rare earth elements, with plans to use advanced separation technology which cannot be disclosed at this time.

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