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FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA – JUNE 10: U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete … More Hegseth are greeted by 18th Airborne Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Gregory Anderson and other military and civilian leaders at the Holland Drop Zone on June 10, 2025 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Trump is traveling to Fort Bragg Army base to observe a military demonstration and give remarks in honor of the U.S. Army\u2019s 250th anniversary. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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Acting on President Donald Trump\u2019s April 15, 2025 executive order<\/a> directing cabinet officials to take action to enhance U.S. energy security by lessening dependence on imports of rare earth minerals, the Pentagon moved in recent days to secure a major ownership interest in America\u2019s only operational rare earth mine.<\/p>\n Moving Fast On Rare Earth Minerals<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Defense, headed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, acquired a 15% position in the MP Materials mine<\/a>, located adjacent to Interstate 15 in southeast California, making it the largest single shareholder in this critical national resource. MP Materials common stock spiked 54% on July 10 following the announcement.<\/p>\n It has been well reported that rare earths are crucial to the wind, solar, battery, and electric vehicles industries. Less reported until recently is the fact that rare earth metals are critical elements <\/a>for making high-grade magnets that go into every modern military weapons system, jets, and ships.<\/p>\n In addition to producing a large percentage of rare earths in its own mines, China holds a dominant position in the refining and processing of the minerals and manufacturing of the magnets from which they are made. Ongoing tensions between the two countries make America\u2019s heavy reliance on imports of these metals via China-dominated supply chains represents a significant national security risk.<\/p>\n The Pentagon maintains significant stores of these minerals for its own use, but restrictions on rare earth exports invoked by China in recent months could threaten to force a depletion in those inventories. An analysis posted on June 25<\/a> by S&P Global notes that those restrictions \u201cled to a 32.1% year-over-year decline in US rare earth imports, highlighting mainland China\u2019s dominance in supplying critical minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n The chart below, published along with that S&P Global analysis, details that China controls either the production of or supply chain for almost 70% of U.S. rare earth imports, based on data compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey:<\/p>\n S&P Global chart depicting U.S. reliance on imports of rare earth and other minerals from China and … More other countries.<\/p>\n S&P Global<\/p>\n In addition to its status as America\u2019s only active rare earth mining operation, MP Materials is a fully integrated operation which also refines and manufactures magnets at its California operation. MP Materials was created in 2017 to acquire and restart the Mountain Pass mining operation which was originally discovered in 1949 and was a dominant player in the global rare earth market from the 1960s into the 1990s.<\/p>\n According to the Science History Institute Museum and Library, production at Mountain Pass \u201cincreased dramatically in 1965, after the discovery that europium phosphors could be used to make a much brighter red in color television screens. The Mountain Pass Mine and the Molybdenum Corporation of America (often referred to as Molycorp) dominated world rare earth production and global exports from about 1960 until the 1990s. During the early 1990s California environmental regulators detected low-level radioactive wastewater leaking from the separation plant\u2019s pipelines. Market prices for rare earth metals were low; Molycorp shut down the separation plant in 1998 and then the mine in 2002.\u201d<\/p>\n A \u2018Transformational Partnership\u2019 On Rare Earth Minerals<\/p>\n \u201cThis initiative marks a decisive action by the Trump administration to accelerate American supply chain independence,\u201d said James Litinsky, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of MP Materials said in a release<\/a>. \u201cWe are proud to enter into this transformational public-private partnership and are deeply grateful to President Trump, our partners at the Pentagon, and our employees, customers and stakeholders for their unwavering support and dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n