Mkango Resources has officially opened a rare earth magnet recycling facility in Pforzheim, Germany, operated by its subsidiary HyProMag GmbH, marking a concrete step toward building European domestic capacity in a supply chain currently dominated by China.
The plant uses Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap technology — developed at the University of Birmingham — to recycle neodymium-iron-boron magnets, the permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors and wind turbines. The facility carries backing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and featured in the recently signed UK-Germany agreement on critical raw materials, underlining its relevance to both national industrial policy and broader allied supply chain strategy.
Initial capacity stands at 100 tonnes per year, with a medium-term target of 350 tonnes and a fully permitted ceiling of 750 tonnes annually. The phased ramp-up allows Mkango to grow output without requiring heavy upfront capital deployment, while commissioning is already underway with early processing runs of the core unit completed.
The plant’s strategic significance exceeds its current output. Europe has been working to reduce dependence on imported rare earths — particularly from China, which dominates both primary production and processing — and magnet recycling offers a lower-carbon and lower-cost alternative to primary mining as a route to domestic supply. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets are among the most critical materials in the energy transition, and recovering them from end-of-life products addresses both supply security and circular economy objectives simultaneously.
