MP Materials (NYSE: MP) has just announced a momentous $500 million partnership with tech giant Apple to produce rare earth magnets in the United States. These magnets will be manufactured from 100% recycled materials, marking a significant step towards supporting U.S. manufacturing and circular supply chains.
The magnets will be produced at MP's Fort Worth, Texas facility, known as Independence, using recycled rare earth feedstock processed at MP's Mountain Pass site in California. It's worth noting that the feedstock will be sourced from post-industrial and end-of-life magnets, a move that underscores the companies' commitment to creating sustainable supply chains.
This agreement is the result of nearly five years of collaboration between Apple and MP Materials to pilot advanced recycling technology that meets Apple's stringent standards for performance and design. Building on this collaboration, MP will construct a commercial-scale, dedicated recycling line at Mountain Pass to process a variety of inputs, including magnet scrap and components recovered from end-of-life products.
To meet the demands of this partnership with Apple and in alignment with its public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, MP Materials will significantly expand the capacity of its Fort Worth magnetics facility. Shipments of magnets are expected to commence in 2027, scaling up to support hundreds of millions of Apple devices.
MP Materials and Apple are also set to collaborate on technological advancements in magnet production and end-of-life recovery, showcasing their commitment to driving innovation in the field.
James Litinsky, the founder, chairman, and CEO of MP Materials, expressed pride in the partnership with Apple, emphasizing how it deepens the company's vertical integration, strengthens supply chain resilience, and reinforces America's industrial capacity.
Rare earth magnets are crucial components in a wide array of products, including smartphones, computers, wearables, vehicles, robotics, and energy systems. This partnership represents a significant move in MP's mission to restore the full rare earth supply chain to the United States while setting a global standard for sustainable production.
As America's only fully integrated rare earth producer, MP Materials extracts and refines materials from one of the world's richest rare earth deposits in California and manufactures the world's strongest and most efficient permanent magnets. Their products play a pivotal role in driving innovation across critical sectors of the modern economy, such as transportation, energy, robotics, defense, and aerospace. Today the company's shares have moved 23.62% to a price of $59.9805. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
