Highlights

• Critical Metals Corp and Saudi conglomerate TQB have signed a non-binding agreement to build a $1.5 billion rare earth processing facility in Saudi Arabia.
• The facility is designed to supply the U.S. defense industrial base and break China's processing monopoly.
• The joint venture would process concentrates from Greenland's Tanbreez Project.
• Critical Metals retains 50% ownership without new equity or debt.
• All finished products go exclusively to U.S. defense applications.
• This venture represents a significant geopolitical shift.
• It positions Saudi Arabia as a new rare earth processing hub.
• The venture creates a Western-aligned supply chain that bypasses China-centric chokepoints in critical minerals.

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According to reporting cited by Reuters (opens in a new tab), Critical Metals Corp (opens in a new tab) has executed a non-binding agreement with Saudi diversified industrial group Tariq Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Brothers Company ( (opens in a new tab)TQB) to jointly build a large-scale rare earth processing facility in Saudi Arabia.

 The proposed project carries an estimated capital cost of up to $1.5 billion and is designed as a fully integrated mine-to-processing rare earth supply chain explicitly aimed at supporting the U.S. defense industrial base, advanced manufacturing, and energy transition needs. If realized, this would represent one of the most ambitious ex-China rare earth processing investments announced to date.

Under the agreement, the joint venture would process rare earth concentrates from the Tanbreez Project in southern Greenland—one of the largest undeveloped rare earth deposits outside China. During production, 25% of Tanbreez’s output would be supplied to the Saudi facility under market-based offtake terms. With this agreement in place, Tanbreez’s entire projected concentrate output is now reportedly covered by long-term offtake contracts.

Critically, CriticalMetals Corp would retain 50% ownership of the joint venture without issuing new equity or incurring debt related to the processing facility, subject to conditions. All finished products from the plant—separated rare earth oxides, metals, and downstream products including magnet-grade materials for aerospace, defense, and high-performance industrial applications—would be delivered exclusively to the U.S. defense industrial complex.

Why This Is Business-Relevant News

There is no technological breakthrough disclosed, but the structural implications are significant. This plan directly challenges China’s dominance in rare earth processing by combining Greenland resources, Saudi industrial capital, and U.S. defense demand into a single aligned supply chain. It also positions Saudi Arabia as a potential new hub for rare earth separation and downstream materials—an area Beijing has historically controlled.

For Western policymakers, the project highlights a new geopolitical configuration: Middle Eastern capital anchoring critical minerals infrastructure for U.S. and allied security needs, bypassing China-centric chokepoints.

Profile

Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al‑Qahtani & Sons Group of Companies (often referred to as AHQ Group) is a long-established, diversified Saudi Arabian conglomerate headquartered in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with roots dating back to the early 1940s–1945 when Sheikh Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani founded the first trading company that began as a food wholesaler and supplier. Over the decades, the group expanded into a broad range of sectors — including oil & gas infrastructure and services, industrial manufacturing, pipeline construction, petrochemicals, water treatment, logistics, heavy machinery, transportation, consumer goods, and services — and now comprises numerous affiliated companies operating in multiple countries with extensive global reach and diversified capabilities.

AHQ Group’s business portfolio includes supplying materials, equipment, and engineering services to major industries, substantial investments in manufacturing (such as steel pipe production, corrosion control, chemicals, gases, and food packaging), and ventures in insurance, travel, tourism, and real estate; it also maintains specialized subsidiaries in education, agriculture and farms, and sector-specific operations such as beverage bottling under its beverage arm.

The group is led by the Al-Qahtani family — with Tariq Abdel Hadi Al-Qahtani as Chairman, Salah Abdel Hadi Al-Qahtani as Vice Chairman, and Abdullah Abdel Hadi Al-Qahtani as Vice President — and maintains strong long-term relationships with major Saudi and international clients, including government agencies and large industrial partners.

AHQ also engages in strategic alliances and international projects, with offices and operations beyond Saudi Arabia (including the United States and Europe), reflecting its evolution from a regional supplier to a multifaceted industrial and services group with a global footprint.

Bottom Line

If executed, this venture would mark a meaningful shift in the global rare earth map—though it remains non-binding and capital-intensive, with execution risk high. Still, the intent alone signals that Western-aligned actors are now willing to deploy industrial-scale capital to break China’s processing monopoly.