America's sole producer of rare-earth metals, with a mine at Mountain Pass in California and a factory in Texas. The company was founded in 2017 by a pair of financiers. Production began at its Texas factory in 2025.
The Mountain Pass mine has a troubled history. It was closed in 2002, unable to compete with Chinese producers and beset by wastewater issues and environmental costs. It was bought in 2008 and restarted in 2012, but its owner went bankrupt in 2015.
In 2025 the Department of Defence acquired a 15% stake in MP Materials for $400m, becoming its largest shareholder. Apple joined with a $500m deal to buy rare-earth magnets and help build a rare-earth recycling facility. About 8% of shares are owned by Shenghe, a Chinese rare-earth miner. MP Materials ceased shipments to China in 2025.
MP Materials became the first beneficiary of America's critical-minerals price-floor programme. The ten-year deal sets a floor of $110 per kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide; if MP sells below that price, the Pentagon pays the difference. The Pentagon has also committed to buy all the rare-earth magnets MP produces at a planned new Texas facility for the plant's first ten years. Quarterly results show that MP's average NdPr price before the floor took effect was $59/kg, while NdPr leaving China fetched $78/kg over the same period—meaning the arrangement carries obvious moral-hazard risks.
Today is the first day of the rest of the mess.