Mkango Magnetic Materials Ltd. (AIM/TSX-V: MKA) has announced that its HyProMag GmbH rare earth magnet recycling and manufacturing plant in Pforzheim, Germany, has been designated a Strategic Project under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act.
The designation recognises the project’s potential to strengthen Europe’s access to strategically important critical raw materials and reduce reliance on external supply chains.
It is the third Mkango-related project to receive CRMA Strategic Project status.
The others are the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi, designated in June 2025, and the proposed Pulawy rare earths separation plant in Poland, selected in March 2025.
HyProMag’s Pforzheim plant is currently being commissioned and is targeting an initial minimum capacity of approximately 100 tonnes per year of neodymium-iron-boron magnets and alloys.
Mkango expects capacity could increase to around 350 tonnes per year through multiple-shift operation, while a further expansion to approximately 750 tonnes annually remains under evaluation.
Those higher capacity figures are therefore targets rather than existing production capacity.
HyProMag is also engaging with potential customers for NdFeB alloy powder and finished magnets as it prepares to scale operations.
The business uses Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap technology to recover and manufacture rare earth magnets from recycled material.
Mkango’s broader strategy spans several recycling routes.
Through Maginito, the group is developing short-loop recycling through HyProMag in the UK and Germany, long-loop chemical recycling through Mkango Rare Earths UK and US expansion through the 50/50 HyProMag USA joint venture.
Its Remloy operation in Bitterfeld, Germany, provides a complementary medium-loop recycling process, melting end-of-life magnets into NdFeB alloy powders.
Mkango also continues to advance its upstream rare earth portfolio.
The Songwe Hill and Pulawy projects are planned to be listed on Nasdaq through a proposed SPAC combination with Crown PropTech Acquisitions, while Songwe has secured US$4.6 million of reimbursable development funding from the US International Development Finance Corporation for front-end engineering and design.
For investors, the new CRMA designation strengthens HyProMag’s strategic positioning within Europe’s effort to build more secure rare earth and permanent-magnet supply chains.
However, the status does not itself guarantee financing, commissioning success or future capacity expansion.
The key milestones are completion of commissioning at Pforzheim, progress towards the 100-tonne initial production level, customer qualification and offtake development, and evidence that the plant can scale economically towards 350 tonnes and potentially 750 tonnes per year.
