A company backed by Stellantis and General Motors is launching an initiative to manufacture magnets without rare-earths elements, in an effort to help the US sidestep China’s dominance over critical minerals.

If successful, the company, Niron Magnetics, would be the first to manufacture magnets without relying on rare earths that have been a crucial industry component for more than half a century. Niron is building a 1,500-tonne factory in Sartell, Minnesota, which it says could satisfy 3 per cent of US magnet demand.

Niron’s technology relies on research by co-founder Jian-Ping Wang, a professor at the University of Minnesota, who discovered the magnetic properties of iron nitride, a compound formed from the combination of iron and nitrogen — two of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust and atmosphere. It said the new compound is 18 per cent more powerful than other magnetic compounds.