Cyclic COO Matt Cherevaty was the primary speaker at the event, and he elaborated on key points in an accompanying PowerPoint presentation. Cherevaty said that the company would exceed its original estimated investment. “What we committed to when we were talking to the government was about $82 million in investment,” he said. “To be honest, that number is going to be a lot higher than that.”

Cyclic recycles rare earth elements and other materials in magnet-containing end-of-life scrap and turns magnet-production waste into raw materials used in AI, robotics, defense and advanced manufacturing, according to its website.

The plant slated for construction at McBee’s Alligator Industrial Park, 26009 SC Highway 151, will comprise a processing facility and a manufacturing facility that will provide mixed rare earth oxide, steel, aluminum and copper.

What Cyclic calls the “spoke” operation will produce recycled magnet concentrate and other critical materials, such as copper and aluminum, according to the PowerPoint presentation. The second operation, the “hub,” will process that recycled magnet concentrate and waste from magnet production to recover recycled mixed rare earth oxides and cobalt-nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate.

Cyclic started off the town hall by presenting an oversized check for $5,000 to the town of McBee to go toward equipment for a public playground.

Sumter-based Thompson Turner Construction is heading up construction of the project, which is in the preliminary design phase.

Cyclic will initiate permitting and approval processes in summer, according to the presentation. “Our goal is to get the permits all done before the end of this year,” Cherevaty said.

It estimates it will start earthworks and preconstruction in Q4 and begin construction in Q1 2027. The hub plant is expected to take about 18 months to build, with the spoke taking 12-14 months. Hiring for plant operations and maintenance is projected for Q4 2027, while plans call for the operation to go live in 2H 2028.

Thompson Turner plans to draw significantly from area subcontractors. Taylor Daylami, the firm’s head of business development of the industrial building group, said during the town hall, "A lot of this project will be local subcontractors that we would love to pull from the Chesterfield area community.”

Cherevaty said in an interview that the overall size of the property spans about 30 acres.

Cyclic plans to hire people living within 50 miles of the McBee site for the more than 90 positions. Local hiring priority will be given to qualified local candidates whenever possible, according to the presentation. Skilled positions include operators, engineers, mechanics, millwrights, supervisors, materials handlers and lab analysts.

Cherevaty said, “We want to work with the local community, the local schools, the local colleges to actually provide those skills and training to make sure they have the right skill sets for us.”

Cyclic will be working with ReadySC to help fill those positions. ReadySC Area Director Lucinda Sutton spoke at the town hall, saying that the program is “the economic development arm of the state technical college system. We assist companies that are coming to South Carolina or ones that are already here that are expanding. We support companies with training and recruitment for not only startups, but expansions.”

Sutton said ReadySC will handle much of this work while the facility is being constructed and that it is “partnering very closely with Northeastern Technical College ... to map out what the training plan will look like to get the operation started alongside the company.”

Cherevaty said more than once at the town hall, “Our goal is we want to be a valued member of this community.”

The presentation covered environmental protection topics of wastewater management, emissions control and environmental impact compliance.

Nathan Daniel, service leader and environmental compliance senior engineer at Greenville-based Bunnell-Lammons Engineering Inc., spoke about environmental issues. “As far as water is concerned, pretty minimal impact there ... It’s not like any wastewater coming off is going to be immediately discharged to Alligator Rural Water sewer and the city of Hartsville,” Daniel said. “There’s going to be pretreatment.”

The project is not looking at significant water usage, he said.

Daniel also talked about air pollution control, saying, “From the air standpoint, this project is projected to be a minor-source project,” minor source being the lowest tier of air permitting.

According to the SC Department of Environmental Services website, the state minor-source program regulates smaller sources of air pollution. A minor-source facility potentially emits less than 100 tons per year of any criteria pollutant [carbon monoxide, particulate matter less than 10 and 2.5 microns in diameter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, lead and volatile organic compounds] and less than 10 tons per year of any single hazardous air pollutant or less than 25 tons per year of combined hazardous air pollutants.

“From a permit standpoint, these permit applications must be reviewed by the state, must be reviewed by various stakeholders, and this permit has been issued for construction,” Daniel said.

After the presentation, Cherevaty opened the town hall up to questions from the community.

One man in the audience asked when an environmental impact statement would be made available to the public.

Daniel answered, “Honestly, in the state of South Carolina there’s no required public notice for the construction permit if it is minor source.”

That audience member pointed out, “Right next door is the primary source of drinking water for about 75% of Chesterfield County.”

Daniel declined request for comment, citing he was under a nondisclosure agreement.

Another community member asked how material would be transported to the plant. Back in October, Cyclic had announced a partnership with German firm Vacuumschmelze GmbH and Co. KG, in which it would recycle magnet-production byproducts from Vacuumschmelze subsidiary e-Vac Magnetics LLC’s Sumter plant, which is about a 65-minute drive from McBee. Cherevaty said the company is planning to have material brought in by truck.

“We do have a rail line at the back of the property,” he said. “It’s something we’re not going to use initially, but it’s something we’re willing to keep options open for the future.”

That audience member also asked about noise levels of the operation, to which Cherevaty responded, “There will be noise from the process, but we’re going to be putting many of the processes inside the building. Our mechanical separation plant is fully indoors.

“We are very sensitive to the amount of noise that we generate,” Cherevaty added, “so we’re going to be doing everything we can to keep everything in the building as best we can.”