Speakers
Education Session
As global demand for rare earth elements (REEs) accelerates, the United States faces a critical strategic vulnerability: near-total dependence on China for heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). These elements are essential for the highest-performance permanent magnets used in advanced technologies and national security applications.
This presentation examines the global REE landscape, then introduces USA Rare Earth's Round Top deposit in West Texas, a globally unique resource containing over 70% HREEs compared to typical deposits that contain 95%+ light REEs. Round Top represents the only significant HREE project outside China's geopolitical sphere.
The presentation will detail USA Rare Earth's comprehensive vertical integration strategy, which captures value across the entire supply chain: Mining, refining, metallization, magnet making and recycling.
Of particular interest to this audience are the aspects around permitting and mining critical minerals on Texas State Land and the benefits to the community and state.
Dr. Alex Moyes serves as Vice President of Mining and Processing at USA Rare Earth, where he leads the development of mining operations, resource characterization, and process engineering for the Round Top project in West Texas. With oversight of upstream activities, including mine planning, heap leach optimization, and separation technologies, he is instrumental in advancing the company’s integrated mine-to-magnet strategy.
Dr. Moyes brings nearly two decades of expertise in mining engineering, geology, and resource development. Prior to joining USA Rare Earth, Dr. Moyes held the role of Director of Critical Minerals and Planning at Ramaco Resources, where he spearheaded initiatives in rare earth and other strategic minerals, including exploration, process flowsheet development, and techno-economic modeling. Before that, he served as Vice President of Economics and Planning at FREYR Battery, directing financial modeling and risk analysis for lithium battery projects. His earlier career at Dominion Energy and Questar focused on innovation in energy technologies, subsurface planning, and geoscience leadership, marked by a consistent emphasis on project execution and bringing complex deposits into production.
Dr. Moyes holds four degrees from the University of Utah, including a Ph.D. in Mining Engineering, an MBA, an MSc in Economic Geology, and a BSc in Geoscience.