MP Materials begins Phase 2 separation and sale of Nd-Pr at Mountain Pass plant in California, USA.

The long awaited return of Nd-Pr separation capacity at MP Materials’ Mountain Pass operation was reported in the company’s Q3 presentation, with production of Nd-Pr oxide reported to total 50t in the quarter.  Nd-Pr oxide shipped from MP Material was shipped to customers in Southeast Asia.  The Mountain Pass operation is continuing to ramp up after the commissioning of rare earth separation capacity was reported in Q2 2023, with production continuing to ramp-up up throughout H2 2023 and expected to continue into 2024.  Sales volumes for Q3 2023 were reported to total 9.17kt REO, down roughly 11% quarter on quarter and down 14% year on year. 

The commissioning of Nd-Pr oxide separation capacity in the USA is a significant step towards developing a US based mine to magnet supply chain for rare earth permanent magnets.  In 2023, the USA is forecast to account for less than 1% of refined rare earth supply, though the ramp-up at MP Materials could bring this to roughly 7% of global production.  The supply chain for rare earth permanent magnets, however, still has several additional stages that still need to be brought into production within the USA prior to this being a true success story in ‘reshoring’ a market so dominated by China.   

Investment by the US Department of Defence and co-operative agreements between MP Materials and Vacuumschmelze and General Motor are hoping to fill these gaps in the US supply chain over the coming years.  Challenges in sourcing heavy rare earth products and scaling up production capabilities at multiple stages of the supply chain remain and a detachment from the Chinese supply chain is not expected to be achievable in the short term for high-performance rare earth permanent magnets used in EV drivetrains or wind turbine generators.