Niron Magnetics Raises First Steel at Sartell Plant

(KNSI) – Niron Magnetics put up the first piece of steel Wednesday on the largest building at its Sartell magnet factory, the company’s first commercial-scale plant and the first anywhere built to make high-performance magnets without rare earth metals.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

CEO Jonathan Rowntree signed the ceremonial column alongside Sartell Mayor Ryan Fitzthum and contractors from Ryan Companies and Wood at the 287,000-square-foot site, the former Verso paper mill.

Rowntree spoke with KNSI News after the ceremony and explained the ingredients are what let the company pick a spot like central Minnesota. “We make them from iron and nitrogen. We can source iron wherever there’s steelmaking going on because our source of iron is a byproduct of steelmaking, and our source of nitrogen is from ammonia, which is used for fertilizer manufacturing.”

Right now, most electric motors run on magnets made from rare earth metals, and China controls roughly 90% of that market and has begun restricting exports. Niron’s magnets skip those materials entirely. Rowntree says the reason nobody built this sooner comes down to measurement. “Our process uses a nanoscale process, and so we’re making very tiny magnetic powders in the front part of our process. And it wasn’t until the last 15 years or so that the tools have been around to measure at such a small amount.”

For perspective, that’s hundreds of times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.

The company also announced Wednesday that Honda has invested in Niron through its Honda Xcelerator Ventures program. Neither side disclosed the amount. That follows $150 million loan commitments announced in August from both the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a $52.2 million federal tax credit and a $10 million Minnesota Forward Fund grant.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

Fitzthum explained the day was a different kind of milestone than last year’s groundbreaking. “Now we’re at a point where we’re actually seeing all the fruits of the labor come out of the ground versus just us putting a fancy shovel in the ground. So we’re out here today to sign the beam, the first beam of many going up.”

That signed plaque will be displayed in the completed facility.

Fitzthum says landing a company like Niron changes how Sartell gets seen. “It significantly puts us on the map from innovation and a place that companies like Niron, that our future focus can put steel in the ground, concrete in the ground, and build their future here.”

Niron’s technology came out of research at the University of Minnesota starting in 2013, and the company runs a pilot plant north of downtown Minneapolis with close to 200 employees. Rowntree says the Sartell plant should be fully operational at the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028, running up to 1,500 tons of magnets a year and employing 175 people. He says the first products carrying Niron magnets should show up sometime late next year, in consumer electronics, audio and appliances, industrial motors, automotive and defense.

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