A company working to rebuild U.S.’s rare Earth processing capacity launches in Long Beach – Press Telegram - California News Beep

A new manufacturing company opened its doors in North Long Beach this week – and city officials say they hope that it will help advance economic development and expand employment opportunities for residents.

Maglut Heavy Industries, a company developing a water-based platform to process and refine rare Earth elements domestically, officially announced its launch on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

CEO Curtis Wu and Chief Operating Officer Azhar Yerzhanova, who are the company’s co-founders, joined their employees on Wednesday to welcome fellow industry leaders, elected officials and community members into their lab, in the Artesia Business Centre. Guests got a first look at the company’s technology and listened to a Q&A session between the CEO and Mayor Rex Richardson.

“Maglut Heavy Industries are finally coming out of stealth mode, and they chose the city of Long Beach to make this investment,” Richardson said during the event. “We know that it’s essential to defense and to space and manufacturing that we have these very rare Earth materials, and for the first time, we are excited to see your progress.”

The mission of Maglut Heavy Industries is to rebuild domestic manufacturing of rare Earth materials by reimagining the way they are processed, officials said. Rare Earth materials are used as inputs to semiconductors, energy infrastructure, defense systems and most modern technology; however, the U.S. currently has little domestic capacity to separate and process them.

The founders started the venture-backed company last year, taking inspiration from a separation technique the biotech industry has spent decades refining to purify biological medicines, Wu said; the company has reinvented the technical to process at scale.

Unlike solvent extraction — the labor- and energy-intensive method historically used domestically and abroad — Maglut’s water-based process is designed to separate rare Earth elements at a globally competitive cost and with a strong social license to operate, Wu said.

“What we’re doing here with chromatography, it’s water-based,” Wu said in an interview. “We have acids, we have bases, but all of this is water. If you want to dispose of an acid, you just neutralize it and now you have water and salt, much more innocuous.”

The process does not have any vapor exhaust, Wu added, and no smells or chemicals that could affect the surrounding neighborhood.

In addition to chromatography, the company is designing and manufacturing its own resin technology. With the in-house resin running chromatography, the company is able to drive down the cost significantly by increasing the performance, Wu said. Maglut has validated its ARC-1 process at pilot scale, separating real-world feedstock into individual rare Earth oxides at 99.9% purity and higher, officials said.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson talks to Curtis Wu, CEO of Maglut Industries, a company developing a domestic platform to process and refine rare earth elements and critical minerals in the United States, during the opening of a new location in North Long Beach on Wednesday August 26, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson helps welcome Maglut Industries, a company developing a domestic platform to process and refine rare earth elements and critical minerals in the United States, during the opening of a new location in North Long Beach on Wednesday August 26, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, Azhar Yerzhanova, COO, Curtis Wu, CEO, and Councilwoman Dr. Joni Ricks-Oddie pose for pictures during a media availability at Maglut Industries, a company developing a domestic platform to process and refine rare earth elements and critical minerals in the United States, during the opening of a new location in North Long Beach on Wednesday August 26, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Employees listen as Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson helps welcome Maglut Industries, a company developing a domestic platform to process and refine rare earth elements and critical minerals in the United States, during the opening of a new location in North Long Beach on Wednesday August 26, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

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The company’s launch also comes as rare Earth supply chains face renewed scrutiny.

Beginning in January, the U.S. Department of Defense will require defense contractors to remove China from their rare Earth magnet supply chains, creating long-term demand for domestic alternatives, officials said. At the same time, decades of cost improvements in chromatography, paired with rising prices for rare Earth materials, have created an opening for a new approach to take hold.

“We have to, in our nation, get back into the mineral business,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia, said during the event. “We have to get back into extracting minerals; we have to get back into refining minerals; we have to make sure that we are now producing minerals that will be source material in a production supply chain.”

Wittman, as well as Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar, introduced the SECURE Minerals Act in January, which proposes a historic $2.5 billion investment to create an independent “Strategic Resilience Reserve.” The reserve uses flexible financial tools to stabilize critical mineral markets, counter intentional foreign price manipulation, and boost domestic and allied production, processing and recycling, according to a press release.

“I am really excited about getting to tour here today, learning about all the great technologies that are here, understanding too that these rare Earth elements are going to be key to this nation’s future,” Wittman said during the event, “whether it’s semiconductors, whether it’s rare Earth magnets – and it is going to be key to this nation’s security and future.”

Wu and Yerzhanova started Maglut Heavy Industries in July 2025, and first moved to San Francisco to try and build, but found that people were more invested in software and artificial intelligence. After learning about Space Beach, the city’s moniker for the growing aerospace industry, the co-founders moved the company to Long Beach in January.

Since then, Maglut has joined the U.S. Department of Commerce business delegation to the Astana Mining Congress, and has also met with key government and industry leaders of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to its website. The company finally launched this month, introducing its team, technology and mission to reimagine domestic processing of critical minerals.

Maglut joins a number of other aerospace companies that have opened their doors or relocating to North Long Beach, including Orbital Operations and Divergent Industries – a company designing, manufacturing and assembling complex metal structures and solutions for multiple industries, including aerospace, defense and automotive.

Maglut, Wu said, hopes to offer high-paying jobs for those in Long Beach with the necessary skills. Maglut will also offer internship opportunities for students at Cal State Long Beach who are majoring in engineering and chemistry.

“I mean the opportunity is jobs; we think about our recent grads and folks in the physical sciences and engineering,” Ninth District Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie said in an interview. “This kind of place will be able to provide internships and early careers. They’re looking for young, hungry people that want to be involved in the manufacturing and innovation space.”

Maglut, according to its website, is looking for employees with experience in organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, metallurgical processing, separations engineering, laboratory operations, facility operations, geochemical engineering, controls engineering, and more.

“When we talk about ‘Grow Long Beach,’ it’s investing in new sectors that didn’t exist before,” Richardson said in an interview. “What we’re seeing is now the second tier and third tier of companies that support the bigger companies are locating here because of this momentum. This is what you want to see.”

A company working to rebuild U.S.’s rare Earth processing capacity launches in Long Beach – Press Telegram

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