MP Materials builds $1.25B Texas magnet plant

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) is due to break ground within days on a  billion-dollar rare earth magnet manufacturing campus near Dallas.

The $1.25-billion project, dubbed 10X, is expected to “dramatically advance” the company’s annual output of 10,000 tonnes of NdFeB (neodymium-iron-boron) rare earth magnets — essential components used in the defence and EV sectors — when it comes online in 2028, the company said Thursday.

The U.S. imports around 10,000 tonnes of magnets annually from China, making it vulnerable to trade restrictions. The plant represents a key pillar of MP’s public-private partnership with the Department of Defense which was established last July to accelerate America’s rare earth magnet independence.

MP Materials climbed 2% to about $60 a share on the announcement, bringing its market capitalization to $10.6 billion. The stock remains about $40 off its all-time high set in mid-October.

Supply chain boost

The 10X project “is about building industrial strength at a scale” that the U.S. has not seen in generations, and “the exceptional talent and infrastructure in North Texas make it possible,” James Litinsky, founder and CEO of MP Materials, said in a release. 

State and local governments have approved a combined $200-million package of grants, abatements and tax exemptions over more than a decade to support the project.

When announcing the Department of Defense partnership, MP said it had secured about $1 billion in debt financing from JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs for the 10X facility, along with a $150-million Pentagon loan to expand its Mountain Pass mine, which will supply the Texas site.

Integrated producer

The Las Vegas-based company is currently the only fully integrated producer of rare earth materials in the U.S., with operations centred around its Mountain Pass mine and processing facility in California and a magnet manufacturing site in Texas.

The nearly 50-hectare 10X facility in the Northlake suburb will “significantly expand” the company’s existing manufacturing platform, MP said. The company mines and refines metal and alloys, and conducts sintering, finished magnet production and closed‑loop recycling, it added.

The project is expected to create more than 1,500 direct manufacturing and engineering jobs. Engineering and equipment procurement is underway.

The campus will be located less than 16 km from its existing magnet production plant in Fort Worth, Texas, which began production in 2024. This will cement North Texas as the centre of gravity for the U.S. rare earth magnet supply chain, MP said.