Saudis enter rare earths with MP Materials deal

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia’s state miner Ma’aden to develop a rare earths supply chain in the kingdom, covering everything from mining to magnet production.

The agreement, signed during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh, outlines plans for cooperation across the entire value chain—from exploration and mining to separation, refining, and permanent magnet production.

The deal is another step of the kingdom to accelerate its ambitions of becoming a global critical minerals hub.

“This partnership is a key step in making mining the third pillar of the Saudi economy,” said Ma’aden CEO Bob Wilt.

MP Materials CEO James Litinsky said the deal would help “rebalance the global supply chain, particularly for robotics and physical AI,” while strengthening US-Saudi strategic ties.

Vision 2030

Saudi Arabia has ramped up efforts to attract foreign investment and expertise into its minerals sector as part of Vision 2030. The kingdom is positioning itself as a reliable alternative to China, which currently accounts for 70% of global rare earth ore extraction and 90% of processing.

The MoU follows MP Materials’ recent decision to stop shipping rare earth concentrate to China, after Beijing imposed new export restrictions.

The company produces rare earths at its Mountain Pass mine in California, the only rare earth mining and processing facility in the United States, where it is also expanding its domestic refining capacity. In the last quarter, MP Materials produced 12,213 tonnes of concentrate, up 10% from the same period last year.

Shares of MP Materials rose 3% on the news Wednesday, lifting the company’s market capitalization to $3.49 billion.