Aclara Resources Chief Financial Officer Francois Motte is actively pushing to sign agreements with automakers and other companies with urgent demand for rare earth minerals—key components in industrial goods such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, robots, and mobile phones.

Motte, who has served as the financial chief of the Canadian miner since 2021, faces a tricky path: he needs to finalize contracts first to convince lenders to provide over $1 billion in financing to complete the development of South American mines and U.S. processing projects, which are still in early pilot stages.

If all goes well, Motte hopes the company can deliver its first products by 2028 and achieve positive cash flow by 2029. The company has not yet signed any off-take agreements and needs a major customer or commitments for about 50% of its output to move forward with its plans.

Motte says one challenge in reaching agreements with future customers is the volatility of rare earth pricing—a market long dominated by China that has recently been rocked by tariffs, with swings more severe than those of mature, highly liquid commodities like gold.

"It's not easy," Motte said in an interview, adding that it would be unreasonable to approach banks for financing before securing product sales contracts. "If I go to a bank or financial institution, the first thing they ask is: 'Do you have commercial contracts?'"

The company stands to benefit from tariff-related tailwinds. In April 2025, China suspended exports of several critical minerals in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff hikes, according to The New York Times. Although China has eased its rare earth export restrictions after a trade deal was reached, some European auto parts plants have already suspended production due to China's rare earth curbs, according to Reuters.

Focus shifts from price

Motte says uncertainty over China's export volumes has intensified manufacturers' demand for alternative rare earth sources outside the country. "Western customers have decided to build alternative supply chains," Motte said, noting that many potential clients are going to great lengths to find new sources of the minerals to avoid production disruptions.

"For them, price has become secondary," he said. "What matters first is that you can prove you have the ability to deliver on your promises."

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that convert electrical energy into kinetic energy. The Trump administration has also shown interest in these minerals, according to Reuters, citing anonymous sources—senior White House officials told a group of executives last month that they want to expand price support and rapidly boost U.S. rare earth mining, processing, and recycling capabilities in a manner similar to the 2020 "Operation Warp Speed."

Aclara, controlled by the Hochschild Group and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is developing rare earth projects in Brazil and Chile. The company is also targeting U.S. domestic rare earth demand: earlier this month, it announced a partnership with Virginia Tech to operate a rare earth separation pilot plant in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The plant is expected to begin operations this fall and will use feedstock from its Carina project in Brazil to extract light and heavy rare earth elements such as praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, and dysprosium, according to Virginia Tech.

CFO Motte sees it as part of his role to communicate the company's advantages to potential buyers. For example, the company has developed a mining process that does not involve open-pit mining, causes less disruption to communities, and recycles wastewater.

"My job is to show all this to customers and say: 'We are more expensive (than China), but look here,'" Motte said, adding that its pricing is competitive compared with other projects in China.

Tariff headwinds

Motte has spent most of his career in mining, having previously worked at Hochschild for nearly a decade, including serving as financial director of the Immaculada gold and silver project in Peru from 2015 to 2016.

At Aclara, he helped raise $100 million through an initial public offering in 2021, but shortly afterward, Gabriel Boric was elected president of Chile, and the company subsequently learned that its project permits could not be obtained in the near term.

That was a heavy blow to the company, although permit approval for the project is now nearing completion, and the experience prompted Aclara to expand into Brazil—where Motte says the company is progressing well. The experience also gave Motte a deep appreciation of the risks posed by changes in government policy.

One of his current focuses is U.S. tariffs on rare earth imports: late last month, Trump issued an executive order imposing a 40% tariff on certain Brazilian imports effective August 6, bringing total tariffs on Brazilian goods to 50%, according to sister publication Supply Chain Dive. Motte said in an email that while some goods are exempt, rare earths are not.

"Rare earths are not exempt from the 50% tariff, but we expect this to be resolved by 2028, either through an exemption or a reduction in the general tariff," Motte said. "Given the U.S. critical minerals strategy and Brazil's strengths in heavy rare earth projects (such as Aclara and Serra Verde), this adjustment is reasonable."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify comments from Aclara Resources Chief Financial Officer Francois Motte.