U.S. Considers Multiple Stakes to Secure Rare-Earth Supply

The Pentagon's equity investment in MP Materials and its support of a price floor have prompted calls for additional federal interventions to rebuild the U.S. rare-earth supply chain.
Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers said backing a single company won't solve dependence on China and urged multiple deals to spread company risk and ensure supply resilience. Industry analysts describe the MP arrangement as a potential blueprint for other critical minerals.
Under the MP pact the government set a $110 per kilogram price floor for neodymium-praseodymium oxide (NdPr); it pays the shortfall when market prices fall below that level and takes 30% of upside above it. The move pushed NdPr prices about 40% higher and sparked investor rallies in several miners, with some stocks rising nearly 200% on deal speculation.
Executives note MP will likely need heavier rare earths as it builds a second magnet facility; heavy rare earths are crucial for high-temperature magnets used in EV motors and defense platforms. Attention has also shifted to lithium, where a proposed equity stake in Lithium Americas and similar support could stabilize battery-material markets. Observers say strategic, industrial-style interventions aim to counter China’s market dominance and encourage private investment in domestic capacity.