USA Rare Earth, InfraVia to acquire stakes in Carester

US-based investment firm USA Rare Earth and European infrastructure investor InfraVia Capital Partners have agreed to acquire significant stakes in French critical minerals consultancy Carester, based in Lyon, France, in a deal announced on March 26, 2025. This strategic investment aims to bolster the Western supply chain for rare earth elements and other critical minerals, which are essential for manufacturing electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense technologies, and to reduce dependence on Chinese-dominated production. The transaction, whose financial terms were not disclosed, represents a major consolidation of expertise in the critical minerals sector. Carester, founded in 2011, provides specialized consulting services, including technical and economic feasibility studies, for mining and processing projects globally. By joining forces with USA Rare Earth—which is developing the Round Top rare earths project in Texas—and InfraVia, which manages long-term infrastructure funds, Carester gains substantial capital and project development backing to expand its services and support new mining ventures. This move is part of a broader geopolitical and industrial trend where Western nations and their allies are aggressively investing to secure independent supplies of strategic materials. The European Union and the United States have both enacted legislation and released substantial funding to develop domestic processing capabilities and diversify sources away from China, which currently controls over 80% of the global rare earths processing capacity. The partnership is expected to accelerate the development of ethically sourced, environmentally responsible mineral projects in North America and Europe, providing a crucial link between raw material extraction and high-tech manufacturing. The deal underscores the growing financialization and strategic importance of the critical minerals sector, transforming it from a niche industrial concern into a focal point for national security and green energy policy. Analysts suggest that such partnerships between financial investors and technical specialists will be vital to de-risking and financing the capital-intensive projects required to build resilient supply chains for the energy transition.