was an American mining corporation headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. The corporation, which was formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange owned the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California. It filed for bankruptcy in June 2015 after changing competitive circumstances, declining prices on output and a 2014 restructuring. It was purchased by its largest creditor Oaktree Capital Management and was reorganized as
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is an open-pit mine of rare-earth elements on the south flank of the Clark Mountain Range, just north of the unincorporated community of Mountain Pass, California, United States. The mine once supplied most of the world's rare-earth elements. Owned by MP Materials, it is the only rare earth mining and processing facility in the United States.
Today, China dominates the rare earth industry, producing over 80% of global supply. Having a single country as a potential point-of-failure in the industrial supply chain for trillions of dollars in GDP is untenable, and MP Materials provides a straightforward solution. Mountain Pass is blessed with one of the world’s highest quality deposits of rare earths, which allows MP Materials to be a global low-cost producer while adhering to our rigorous environmental standards and fulfilling our commitments to employees and our community.
MP Materials Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter and Year-To-Date Ended September 30, 2020
Q3 Financial and Operating Highlights:
• Third quarter revenue increased 52% year-over-year, to $41.0 million, driven primarily by higher realized pricing and inclusive of an $8.9 million tariff refund received
• Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2020 increased 159% year-over-year to $11.6 million; the Adjusted EBITDA calculation excludes the $8.9 million benefit from the tariff refund
• In the third quarter, MP produced 10,197 metric tons of contained rare earth oxide ("REO") in concentrate, higher both year-over-year and sequentially; production cost of $1,389 per metric ton of REO was down modestly on a sequential basis
• MP sold 9,429 metric tons of REO in the quarter at an average realized price of $3,393 per metric ton; higher realized pricing was driven by higher market prices and the lifting of certain import duties; sold volumes fluctuate quarter to quarter based on production and shipment timing and MP continues to foresee 100% sell through of its production
Recent Business Highlights:
• Completed its Business Combination with Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. on November 17, 2020, resulting in the listing of MP Materials shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MP"
• Through the business combination and related PIPE transaction, MP Materials raised $545 million to fully fund its three-stage business plan to restore the full rare earth materials supply chain to the U.S., closing a critical defense and economic security gap
• On November 17, 2020, the Department of Defense ("DoD") announced that MP Materials was awarded a Defense Production Act Title III technology investment agreement, which includes a $9.6 million DoD contribution to MP’s Stage II optimization
• Completed front-end engineering design (FEED) and all circuit designs for Stage II optimization
"Our results show continued strong operational execution throughout 2020," said James Litinsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MP Materials. "With our business combination complete, MP has a fully equitized balance sheet to support the execution of our long-term plans to become a key supply chain partner as global industry advances towards electrification," added Litinsky. "Our next several quarters will be focused on our move downstream into production of higher-margin separated rare earths with a focus on NdPr. We expect to continue driving profitable growth as we produce our rare earth concentrate, which comprises 15% of global rare earth content today."
Conference Call Details:
Event: MP Materials September 30, 2020, Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2020 Time: 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time Live call: (833) 350-1335 International: (236) 389-2432 Audio Replay: (800) 585-8367 Passcode: 5090136 Webcast: investors.mpmaterials.com
The audio replay will be archived through December 8, 2020.
Pentagon awards $13 million in rare earths funding to U.S. projects
November 18, 2020
By Ernest Scheyder
(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded three rare earth-related grants worth roughly $13 million to help boost domestic production of the specialized minerals used to make weapons, electronics and a range of other goods.
China is the world's largest producer of these minerals and has threatened to stop their export to the United States.
The Pentagon on Tuesday said it awarded $9.6 million to MP Materials Inc <MP.N>, which owns the only U.S. rare earths mine, to help the company process light rare earths.
Rare earths are 17 metals that are difficult and costly to mine and process cleanly. Most are so-called light rare earths, used in cellphones and other consumer goods. MP's California mine has a large supply of light rare earths.
But MP has to ship more than 50,000 tonnes of concentrated rare earths per year to China for final processing because equipment it inherited from its predecessor, Molycorp, is not operational. Chinese customers account for all of MP's $100 million in annual revenue.
MP Materials went public on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, a deal that netted the company about $489 million. Shares rose 14% to $16.40.
This is the second Pentagon award that MP has received this year. The company and Australia's Lynas Corp Ltd <LYC.AX> received grants in April to focus on production of so-called heavy rare earths, a less-common type of the minerals used in weaponry.
The Pentagon also said on Tuesday it awarded $2.3 million to California-based TDA Magnetics Inc and $860,000 to Texas-based Urban Mining to focus on rare earth magnet production and stockpiling. The Pentagon earlier this year had granted $28.8 million to Urban Mining for similar magnet work.
Rare earths must be turned into magnets after processing, otherwise they are of little value to manufacturers. China dominates the rare earth magnet industry, too.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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