Government secretary opens German HyProMag plant
- 28 April 2026
Parliamentary state secretary for Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Stefan Rouenhoff, has officially opened a rare earth magnet facility featuring innovative separation technology at Pforzheim in southwestern Germany.
Rouenhoff said at last week’s Hannover Messe 2026 innovation and international cooperation were increasingly decisive factors in the successful evolution of industry and new industrial investment in the country.
The HyProMag GmbH plant, still being commissioned, is using Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap technology developed at England’s University of Birmingham and is designed to initially produce about 100 tonnes per annum of NdFeB (neodymium, iron, boron) product used in permanent magnets. HPMS technology is licensed to Birmingham-based HyProMag Ltd, a firm controlled by London and Toronto-listed Mkango Resources and Canadian resources and technology company, CoTec Holdings Corp.
The Pforzheim plant is HyProMag’s second commercial-scale rare earth sintered magnet manufacturing facility after the inauguration of its 100tpa plant at Birmingham’s Tyseley Energy Park at the start of this year.
Both facilities have capacity to triple output and are part of a bigger HyProMag play to insert the HPMS technology into the US permanent magnet supply chain via a proposed circa-US$140 million plant in Texas. Proponent HyProMag USA, owned 50-50 by CoTec and HyProMag Ltd, is assessing prospects for a US public listing.
“The official opening of HyProMag’s second plant in Germany is a further major milestone after 20 years development at the University of Birmingham of the HPMS technology,” CoTec CEO Julian Treger said.
“HyProMag’s second plant will provide the further technical expertise to support a scalable US manufacturing platform and optimise products for US customers. Collaboration between the HyProMag businesses provides a long-term solution in securing resilience in domestic supply chains and partnership between countries.”
HyProMag GmbH is said to be fully permitted for production of up to 750tpa of NdFeB magnets and alloys and targeting scale-up over three years to this rate.
HyProMag says HPMS, developed with R&D funding of more than $100 million, delivers faster magnet-to-magnet short-loop recycling that uses 88% less energy and reduces carbon emissions by 85% compared to conventional methods.
“HPMS accepts a wide range of magnet-bearing feedstocks, including end-of-life EV motors, data-centre and industrial equipment, consumer electronics and manufacturing scrap, enabling recovery of magnet-grade material without chemical processing,” the company says.
“Selected by the US Department of State as a Minerals Security Partnership project, HyProMag USA is targeting 10% of US domestic magnet supply within five years, ensuring supply chain security and resilience for technologies critical to national defence and economic competitiveness.”
