MP Materials Corp.
TypePublic company
Industry
Founded2017 (2017)
Founders
  • James Litinsky
  • Michael Rosenthal
HeadquartersLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
James Litinsky
(Executive Chairman & CEO)
Michael Rosenthal
(COO)
ProductsRare earths in concentrate
Production output
38,500 tonnes[1] (2020)
OwnerJHL Capital Group, QVT Financial LP, James Litinsky, Shenghe Resources[2]
Number of employees
350 (2021[3])
Websitempmaterials.com
Footnotes / references
[4][5]

MP Materials Corp. is an American rare-earth materials company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. MP Materials owns and operates the Mountain Pass mine, the only operating rare earth mine and processing facility in the United States.[6] MP Materials focuses its production on Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr), a rare earth material used in high-strength permanent magnets that power the traction motors found in electric vehicles, robotics, wind turbines, drones and other advanced motion technologies.[7] MP Materials is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "MP". As of December 2021, JHL Capital Group, QVT Financial and CEO James Litinsky were the company's three largest shareholders, with about 7.7% of the company owned by Shenghe Resources, a Chinese rare earth business located in Sichuan.[8]

History

In 2015, Molycorp, the previous owners of the Mountain Pass mine, filed for bankruptcy. At the time, it was the only U.S. producer of rare earth elements.[9] While in bankruptcy, Secure Natural Resources (SNR), a company owned by Molycorp's creditors, including JHL Capital Group, gained control of the mine's mineral rights.[10] In June 2017, the Mountain Pass mine was purchased at auction for $20.5 million by a new entity called MP Mine Operations LLC (MPMO).[11] MPMO was a consortium formed principally by JHL Capital Group, a Chicago-based investment firm led by James Litinsky, along with QVT Financial LP and Shenghe Resources.[3] Shenghe, a Sichuan China rare earth company, held a minority, non-voting interest.[12] At the time, Mountain Pass was in a state of "care and maintenance" and had only eight employees according to Litinsky.[13]

Following the asset acquisitions and formation of the entities that became MP Materials, the company restarted operations at Mountain Pass. On July 15, 2020, the company announced a reverse takeover whereby MPMO and SNR would be merged with Fortress Value Acquisition Corporation to become a public company under the name MP Materials Corp. The transaction, which closed on November 17, 2020, raised $545 million.[14] On November 18, 2020, MP Materials began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MP".

In December 2021, MP Materials signed a long-term agreement with General Motors to provide neodymium-iron-boron magnets for use in GM's electric vehicle motors.[15] As part of the contract, MP Materials also agreed to provide alloy and finished magnets to GM for its electric vehicles[16] and to open a new factory located in Fort Worth, Texas to produce the magnets.[17]

As of December 2021, JHL Capital Group, QVT Financial, and CEO James Litinsky were the company's three largest shareholders, and about 7.7% of the company was owned by Shenghe Resources, a Chinese company.[8][18][19][20][21] Apart from institutions, other investors own 18%.[18]

Mountain Pass mine

Mountain Pass mine

Discovered in 1949 in San Bernardino County, California, Mountain Pass mine consists of a bastnäsite ore-body with significant concentrations of rare earth elements.[22] The mine once supplied most of the world's rare earth elements.[23] Mountain Pass is the only operational rare earth mining and processing facility in the United States.[6] The expected Mountain Pass mine life is approximately 24 years.[24]

MP Materials produced 28,000 tonnes of rare-earth oxide equivalent from Mountain Pass in 2019, and 38,500 tonnes in 2020, or more than 15% of global production.[1] As of late 2020, Shenghe Resources was the sole purchaser of MP Material's rare earth concentrate.[25][26]

U.S. government contracts

In July 2020, the United States Department of Defense issued a preliminary contract to MP Materials intended to restore domestic heavy rare earth production and separation capabilities to the United States.[27][28] In November 2020, the United States Department of Defense awarded MP Materials $9.6 million as part of a government effort to increase domestic production of rare earth materials.[29][30]

In 2021, MP Materials received $3 million in funding from the United States Department of Energy to design and study the feasibility of a system to produce rare earth oxides and metals from coal by-products in collaboration with the University of Kentucky.[3][31]

In February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced at a press conference that the United States Department of Defense was investing $35 million into MP Materials as part of an effort to spur domestic rare earth production in the United States.[32][33] Biden said that this move was designed to reduce America's reliance on rare earth minerals imported from other countries.[34][35] The Biden administration said the federal funding is earmarked to assist the company to develop a new commercial facility for “heavy” rare earth mineral processing.[33]

References

  1. 1 2 Zhou, Jackie (May 9, 2021). "US seeks to challenge China on rare-earth elements, key ingredients in Biden's energy plan". Fox Business. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Could The MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Ownership Structure Tell Us Something Useful?". Simply Wall Street. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Hudson, Sabrina (May 29, 2021). "Mine near Las Vegas produces much of world's rare earth materials". Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  4. ↑ "MP Materials Corp 2020 Form 8-K Quarterly Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  5. ↑ "MP Materials Corp 2020 Q3 Summary" (Press release). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "The Californian Rare Earths Mine Caught Between Trump and China". Bloomberg News. September 27, 2018. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  7. ↑ "MP Materials CEO says rare magnets supplier is a 'picks-and-shovels play' for EV market". CNBC. December 16, 2020. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "MP MATERIALS CORP. (MP)". MarketScreener. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  9. ↑ Miller, John W.; Zheng, Anjie (June 25, 2015). "Molycorp Files for Bankruptcy Protection". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  10. ↑ Peg Brickley (February 1, 2017). "California's Mountain Pass Mine to be Auctioned in Bankruptcy". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Wikidata Q114387203. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  11. ↑ Peg Brickley (June 23, 2017). "Mountain Pass Mine Approved for Sale to JHL, QVT, Shenghe". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Wikidata Q114387011. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  12. ↑ Topf, Andrew (June 16, 2017). "Mountain Pass sells for $20.5 million". Mining.com. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  13. ↑ "James Litinsky CEO of MP Materials on the Company's NYSE Debut". TD Ameritrade Network. November 18, 2020.
  14. ↑ Gupta, Ruchi (November 19, 2020). "Is MP Materials Stock a Good Investment?". Market Realist. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  15. ↑ Root, Al (December 9, 2021). "GM Keeps Building Up Its EV Supply Chain. Here's the Latest Deal". Barrons. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  16. ↑ Stankiewicz, Kevin (December 9, 2021). "MP Materials CEO says GM partnership key to building EV supply chain in U.S." CNBC. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  17. ↑ "GM reaches supply deals for electric vehicle motor magnets". AP. December 9, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  18. 1 2 "MP Materials Corp. (MP)". Market Screener. Annecy, France: Surperperformance. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  19. ↑ Xie, John (December 31, 2020). "California Mine Becomes Key Part of Push to Revive US Rare Earths Processing". Voice of America. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  20. ↑ Hui, Mary (February 5, 2021). "The US is taking steps towards breaking China's rare earths monopoly". Quartz. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Shenghe Resources Holding Co. Ltd: Shareholders Board Members Managers and Company Profile". MarketScreener. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Rare Earth Elements—Critical Resources for High Technology". US Geological Survey. May 17, 2005. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  23. ↑ "The collapse of American rare earth mining — and lessons learned". Defense News. November 12, 2019.
  24. ↑ "MP Materials Corp 2020 SEC Form S1". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  25. ↑ Hui, Mary (February 19, 2021). "A Chinese rare earths giant is building international alliances worldwide". Quartz. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  26. ↑ "MP Materials Corp Form S-1 Registration Statement". Security and Exchange Commission. December 9, 2020. p. 9. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  27. ↑ Scheyder, Ernest (July 22, 2020). "Pentagon resumes rare earths funding program after review". Reuters. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  28. ↑ "MP Materials Corp 2020 Q3 Investor Q&A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  29. ↑ "U.S. rare earths miner MP Materials profit surges in first results post listing". Reuters. November 23, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  30. ↑ "China May Ban Rare Earth Tech Exports on Security Concerns". Bloomberg News. February 19, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  31. ↑ "DOE awards #3M to MP Materials for project to extract rare earths from fossil fuel waste streams". Green Car Congress. May 17, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  32. ↑ Scheyder, Ernest; Holland, Steve (February 22, 2022). "Biden voices support for new U.S. mines, if they don't repeat past sins". Reuters. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  33. 1 2 Ronayne, Kathleen (February 22, 2022). "Biden wants to cut into China's electric battery dominance". AP. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  34. ↑ Gangitano, Alex (February 22, 2022). "Biden says mineral supply chain actions will help end foreign reliance". The Hill. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  35. ↑ Coppola, Gabrielle (February 26, 2022). "Biden Bets on U.S. Battery Independence". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
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