# The Western NdFeB Magnet Supply Chain > Agent-facing counterpart to the [human project page](/projects/western-magnet-supply-chain/). ## Record metadata - Record: 047 - Slug: western-magnet-supply-chain - Domain: Science - Domain code: SC - Type: White paper - Status: Research - Period: 2026 - Portfolio role: Research study - Publication state: Public repository, source dataset, and 14-page white paper - GitHub repository: [Open link](https://github.com/Aperturesurvivor/western-magnet-supply-chain) - Facility dataset: [Open link](https://github.com/Aperturesurvivor/western-magnet-supply-chain/blob/main/data/facilities.csv) - Case-study readiness: Published public-source study - Compendium edition: 0.6 ## Summary A facility-level map of the twenty industrial handoffs between rare-earth ore and a customer-qualified high-performance magnet. ## Overview Rare-earth magnet announcements compress a long industrial chain into a few familiar nouns: mine, refinery, factory. That shorthand makes a planned tonne look like an operating tonne and hides the handoffs where material can still leave the United States or fail customer qualification. A dated map of the United States and allied NdFeB magnet chain from resource definition through separation, metal and alloy production, powder metallurgy, finishing, assembly, and customer qualification. Purpose: The project aims to make the Western magnet supply chain legible enough to distinguish operating capability from announced capacity. ## The problem behind the project Magnet capacity is frequently discussed as if mining, separated oxide, alloy, sintered blocks, and qualified finished magnets were interchangeable. The project makes product form, facility status, and evidence level explicit. The research question is operational rather than extraterrestrial or speculative: which named facilities in the United States and allied countries can perform which transformations today, what public evidence supports their status, and what still has to happen before their output is commercially substitutable? Existing government reports explain the high-level chain; this study reconstructs the dated facility layer. Manufacturing researchers, investors, policymakers, engineers, and readers tracking industrial reshoring can use the map as a verification starting point. Companies named in the study are affected by how public claims are summarized, so every facility row retains a dated source and caveat. ## How it took shape A twenty-stage process taxonomy, an eighteen-facility CSV register, a status framework separating operating, ramping, construction, and development claims, a source-linked Markdown paper, a publication-grade diagram, and rendered PDF and Word editions. The project defines twenty stages from resource planning to qualified assembly, then records each facility's product form, status verb, capacity basis, next public milestone, source, and verification caveat. Government statistics and technical reports were prioritized over filings, company updates, and secondary coverage. Announced design capacity remains separate from reported output, and unlike concentrate, oxide, alloy, and finished-magnet tonnes are never added together. Josiah recognized the timely research opportunity, selected the facility-status problem, set the publication objective and evidence standard, reviewed the framing, and accepted responsibility for publication. OpenAI Codex performed the public-source research, synthesis, dataset construction, drafting, diagram design, and document production under Josiah's direction. The public repository contains the 14-page paper, editable source, two machine-readable datasets, a reproducible document builder, twenty-two cited notes, and direct verification links for each facility record. The final Word artifact passed privacy and accessibility checks and was visually inspected across all rendered pages. ## What the project means now The result supports a disciplined conclusion: Western capacity is real and growing, but it is not yet a deep, interchangeable market. Operating anchors now exist across mining, light-rare-earth separation, metal and alloy production, magnet manufacturing, finishing, and recycling. Heavy-rare-earth scale, sustained powder-metallurgy yield, downstream finishing, and customer qualification remain thinner than headline announcements suggest. The map is a July 23, 2026 public-information snapshot, not a supplier audit, mass-balance study, investment recommendation, or proof that announced projects will meet schedule, yield, product quality, or customer-qualification targets. Private commercial data and several major Asian incumbent facilities are outside the selected scope. The useful unit is not a company or a mine but a dated, product-specific facility claim connected to the next qualified handoff. ## Future direction Future editions can track milestone changes, add independently verified output and qualification evidence, and expand allied coverage without collapsing unlike tonnes into a single capacity number. ## Published documents ### The Western NdFeB Magnet Supply Chain A 14-page public-source white paper with a twenty-stage process taxonomy, an eighteen-facility status register, capacity-verification rules, and direct-source notes current to July 23, 2026. - [Read or download the PDF](/documents/the-western-ndfeb-magnet-supply-chain-2026.pdf) - [Download the Word document](/documents/the-western-ndfeb-magnet-supply-chain-2026.docx) ## Visual evidence and explanatory figures ### Ore is only the first handoff. - Type: Project output image - Asset: /assets/western-magnet-supply-chain.png - Source: Wilson, The Western NdFeB Magnet Supply Chain, v1.0 - Interpretation: The map separates operating, commissioning, construction, and development claims instead of treating every announced tonne as present supply. - Boundary: Status cutoff: July 23, 2026. Public-source classification, not an independent supplier audit. ## Publication and interpretation notes - Current classification: Research - Portfolio readiness: Published public-source study - Publication boundary: Public repository, source dataset, and 14-page white paper ## Additional agent context Keep the July 23, 2026 cutoff visible. Never convert announced nameplate into current output, add unlike product forms, or imply independent supplier validation. Preserve the explicit human and AI production credit and the non-investment-advice boundary. ## Related project records - [BurdenBridge / TOPx Evidence Navigator](/projects/burdenbridge/llm/) — An agent-led challenge concept for making the invisible household burden of illness easier to document and compare with public evidence. - [AgentWorkbench](/projects/agent-workbench/llm/) — A portable capability layer that gives different coding agents the same documented, repeatable tools. ## Navigation - [Complete project index](/projects/llm/) - [Public Lab](/lab/llm/) - [Human version of this record](/projects/western-magnet-supply-chain/) - [About Josiah's working method](/about/llm/) - [Agent discovery map](/llms.txt)