MP Materials reports a surge in profits after going public
MP Materials Corp which owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earths mine in Mountain Pass, CA said on Monday its third-quarter profit jumped more than fivefold, days after the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange through a deal with Fortress Value Acquisition Corp.
Reuters reported that the Pentagon awarded $9.6 million to MP Materials last week, to help boost domestic production of the specialized minerals used in everything from weapons to wind turbines and satellites.
The Mountain Pass facility includes fully integrated and co-located mining and processing capabilities with mining, milling, separations, and finishing operations all on one site. MP Materials reports that the mine contains more than 800 kt (880,000 st) of recoverable rare earth oxides with an average 8 percent ore grade, one of the highest quality known deposits in the world. Mountain Pass is designed as a zero-discharge facility,
featuring a dry tailings process that allows recycling of about 95 percent of the water used in the milling and flotation circuit, as well as a chlor-alkali facility that allows for the manufacture of reagents used in the rare earth separation and processing.
China, the world’s largest producer of these minerals, last year threatened to stop their export to the United States, which only has one rare earths mine, the one owned by MP Materials.
Rare earths are 17 metals that are difficult and costly to mine and process cleanly. The company’s California mine has a large supply of light rare earths, which are used in iPhones, electric car motors and a wide range of other consumer products.
MP Materials said its net income was $14.6 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $2.8 million last year.
In the third quarter, the company produced 10,197 metric tons of contained rare earth oxide in concentrate.