More than 200 metal heads — of a sort — from around the world recently gathered downtown.

They were not here to celebrate their favorite bands, but to discuss some of the planet’s most valuable minerals at the annual International Rare Earths Conference, held Thursday and Friday at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk hotel.

The attendees — who came from Mongolia, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, Chile, Korea, Australia and elsewhere — represented industry and government agencies and the growing attention focused on 17 elements used in electronics ranging from cellphones to F-35 fighter jets.

Known as rare earth metals, the elements have unique properties that enable technologies. Despite their title, they’re somewhat common in the Earth’s crust; however, they’re difficult to mine and separate.

China accounts for 80% to 85% of the world’s rare earth mining and production, which could put other countries at risk as global demand for these metals is expected to grow 400% to 600% over the next several decades.

U.S. leaders and governments around the world want to increase rare earth production outside China. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act included tax credits and other incentives to spur development of rare earth metals in the U.S.

“It’s exciting times for rare earths at the moment because of the opportunity,” said Rachel Carnac, a managing director of Metal Events Ltd., the London-based company that ran the conference, “but it’s a small industry looking at potential big growth.”

While other countries, including the U.S., are developing more diverse rare earth metal supply chains, she said that China will always “be incredibly dominant, and that’s not going to change.”

Beyond America’s expanding market and significant investments in rare earths, her company chose San Antonio for this year’s conference because of Noveon Magnetics Inc., the San Marcos-based rare earth magnet recycler and manufacturer that’s seen considerable growth since its operations began in 2020.

More specifically, Noveon is a “sintered, neodymium iron boron magnet manufacturer,” said Peter Afiuny, the company’s co-founder and chief commercial officer. They are “the most powerful, permanent magnet that you can buy on the market,” and China controls 90 percent of global production.

The magnets convert energy into mechanical motion, or vice versa, and they’re used in robotics, propulsion devices, compressors, pumps and motors across various industries, including manufacturing, medical, aerospace, energy production and transportation.

Think computers, microwaves, MRIs, electric vehicles and missiles. The magnets “can be as small as a mechanical arm on a robotic system” or “as large as a propulsion motor or device within a submarine,” Afiuny said.

Noveon is one of five companies operating outside China that produce these types of magnets, Afiuny said. Given the “criticality” of these products and the growing markets for them, he describes their limited supply chain as a “major geopolitical concern.”

The global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, known as “energy transition,” is a major driver for the rare earth business. Electric vehicles and wind turbines require rare earth magnets, and both of those markets are growing 

The company’s most recent funding round raised $75 million this year.

With about 80 employees, the company aims to have 100 by the end of the year and is on track to double its head count every year, Afiuny said. It also began testing 24/7 operations at the company’s 145,000-square-foot facility.

“We’re the only operational center magnet producer in the Western hemisphere,” he said. “And there’s a significant deficit. 

Noveon plans to ramp up production to 10,000 tons annually within five to seven years. Global production of such magnets is roughly 170,000 tons per year.

“We’re transitioning into this massive execution environment,” he said. “We’re talking about large-scale, continuous operations that will impact in very, very short order a domestic industrial base need for these materials to support the energy transition.”