A federal financing offer for the Aclara rare earth plant in Louisiana
The Export Import Bank of the United States, a federal government agency that finances American exports, told Aclara Resources on September 4, 2026 that it is willing to consider lending up to 750 million dollars toward the rare earth plant Aclara plans to build at the Port of Vinton in Louisiana. The letter is a letter of interest, not a finished loan, and EXIM has to complete due diligence, underwriting and final documents before any money moves. The offer runs through an EXIM financing program called the Make More in America initiative and would carry a repayment period of up to 15 years if finalized.
This facility will become a cornerstone of critical minerals reindustrialization in the Western Hemisphere.
Hugh Broadhurst, chief operating officer of Aclara Resources. Source 2.
What the 277 million dollar plant would actually build
Aclara says the plant itself, a facility that separates rare earth elements bound together in mined ore into individual oxides, will cost about 277 million dollars to build on an 82 acre site at the Port of Vinton, targeting full production by mid 2028.
The gap between the 750 million dollar financing figure and the 277 million dollar plant cost is not a mistake. The letter of interest announcement, read in full for this article, describes the financing as covering the wider separation, metals and alloys facility Aclara is building, not just the 277 million dollar separation plant named in the October 2025 announcement, a distinction the wording of the letter makes clear though neither Aclara nor EXIM states it outright.
At full production, Aclara targets 1,400 tonnes a year of neodymium praseodymium oxide, the ingredient used in most rare earth magnets, plus 200 tonnes a year of dysprosium oxide and 30 tonnes a year of terbium oxide, 2 elements added in small amounts to keep magnets working at high heat in electric motors, wind turbines and defense equipment.
Neodymium praseodymium is the ingredient used in most rare earth magnets. Dysprosium and terbium are added in far smaller amounts to keep magnets working at high heat, so their bars are small next to neodymium praseodymium on this scale, not because the company considers them less important.
Show the numbers
| Neodymium praseodymium | 1,400 |
| Dysprosium | 200 |
| Terbium | 30 |
Jobs, incentives and a federal air permit
Louisiana Economic Development, the state agency, expects the plant to create 140 direct jobs and an estimated 456 indirect jobs, a combined 596 jobs, a total this article adds from the 2 figures.
Louisiana is putting up 46.4 million dollars in tax breaks and grants toward the plant, a total this article adds from 4 state programs Aclara lists, led by 29.3 million dollars from the Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
The 4 programs shown add to 46.4 million dollars, a total this article calculates, not a figure Aclara itself prints as 1 number.
Show the numbers
| Industrial Tax Exemption Program | 29.3 |
| High Impact Jobs Program | 11.6 |
| Infrastructure grant | 3.0 |
| FastStart workforce program | 2.5 |
By choosing Louisiana for its first U.S. facility, Aclara is recognizing what we already know, our state is leading the next generation of energy and technology innovation.
Jeff Landry, governor of Louisiana. Source 2.
A cleared permit and a new construction target
Ten days after the EXIM letter, on September 14, 2026, Aclara cleared the last major permitting step, a Louisiana state air permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The company set a new construction target, breaking ground in the first quarter of 2027, later than its earlier announcement had implied, and conditioned on actually closing the EXIM financing.
This approval reflects the strong progress we are making in Louisiana and moves Project Dynamo another step closer to construction.
Hugh Broadhurst, chief operating officer of Aclara Resources. Source 3.
RBC Capital Markets rates Aclara shares Outperform with a price target of 6 Canadian dollars, above the 3.38 Canadian dollar price the bank cited on September 11, 2026, though shares fell almost 2% on September 14, 2026.