United Rare Earths began construction of new facility Friday

‘As we speak, roads, other land prep work is underway’- United Rare Earths CEO Jeffrey Willis

TOP PHOTO: This is an ariel photo of work that began on Friday morning at the future site of United Rare Earths.

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)_ At Thursday’s Joint Economic Community Development Board (JECDB) meeting, board chairman Jay Willoughby gave an update on the United Rare Earths Project.

At the JECDB meeting, Caryville Mayor David Chambers reported that the Caryville Planning Commission had approved United Rare Earths’ site plan.

Willoughby announced that this approval meant that May 9 would be able to be the starting date for construction on phase one United’s Magnet Recycling Facility.

The JECDB Board also approved the transfer of $20k to the Industrial Development Board to assist in the costs of site planning and development for the United Rare Earths Project.

“They are officially underway with site preparation for the phase one which is the magnet recycle facility.  State ECD applications for financial incentives, and site development engineering and planning has been ordered for Phase two and three which will include site design, access roads and utility infrastructure,” Willoughby said.

United Rare Earths CEO Jeffrey Willis, along with engineers and others will be traveling overseas soon to view a pilot magnet recycling facility.

“Site work on our 39 acres has indeed been underway. As we speak, roads and other land preparation work is underway. In addition, the engineers , architects, and our developers will be traveling to Belfast, Ireland with me to meet with our team there and to view the pilot facility that will be scaled and built here on our 39 acre site here in Caryville, Tennessee,” Willis said.

United Rare Earths was founded by Jeffrey Willis, John Graves and Dr. Bob Wright and is an “energy company in pursuit of clean and sustainable energy.” The company is creating a “rare earths hub” in Campbell County and is in the process of establishing the first phase of the three-phase project.

The first phase will be a magnet recycling facility, the second phase will be a “separation facility to separate newly mined materials”, and finally the third phase will be research into sustainable energy. Once the facility is up and running, it will result in “high paying jobs” for Campbell County, while “reinforcing the nation’s economic independence and increasing national security,” according to United Rare Earths officials.

The company is “collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratories and is focused on developing cutting edge technologies and strategic partnerships that will drive advancements in securing domestic Rare Earths supply chain.” (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-05/12/2025-6AM-PHOTOS SUBMITTED)