① Amid Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, the American company MP Materials announced a cooperation agreement with a Saudi mining company; ② The cooperation will include the mining, separation, refining, and production of rare earth minerals.
On May 16, Financial Association News reported (editor Qi Ling) that during Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, accompanying American companies announced a series of investment or cooperation plans in Saudi Arabia. In addition to numerous technology companies, there is also an American rare earth miner.
American rare earth company MP Materials recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi flagship mining company Ma’aden to jointly develop a rare earth supply chain in Saudi Arabia.
The cooperation will include the mining, separation, refining, and production of rare earth minerals.
"Today's statement is an important first step towards rebalancing the global supply chain. This move comes at a time of transformative growth driven by emerging technologies, especially in AI and Siasun Robot&Automation, and deepens the strategic alliance between the USA and Saudi Arabia," said James Litinski, CEO of MP Materials, in a press release.
The press release pointed out that rare earth magnets are indispensable components in key technological fields such as Transportation, Energy, Siasun Robot&Automation, and Aerospace. This cooperation will leverage Saudi Arabia's highly competitive energy foundation, world-class infrastructure, and strategic location to diversify and expand the global rare earth supply chain, thereby meeting the increasing demand of fast-growing industries.
President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia is indeed fruitful, as Saudi Arabia has promised to invest at least $600 billion in the USA in the future across the Energy, Defense, and Mining sectors, while multiple technology companies including NVIDIA, AMD, Google, and Oracle announced cooperation or investment projects in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has been striving to become a major global mining hub, with minerals such as Copper, Nickel, and rare earths becoming essential for technology-driven economies. According to the Saudi Geological Survey, the country has identified rare earth reserves of approximately 3.2 million tons, accounting for 1.5% of the global total, but has almost no smelting technology.
MP Materials is the only owner of the Mountain Pass rare earth mine operating in the USA, and although it has the capacity to produce over 0.04 million tons of rare earth concentrate annually, the smelting and processing of its minerals has mostly been completed in China for a long time.
The essence of the cooperation between both parties is a complementary relationship between resources and markets: Saudi Arabia provides funding, mining development rights, and regional hub advantages, while MP Materials contributes mining operation experience and some separation technology, striving to build a complete rare earth Industry Chain from raw materials to final products. However, the construction of a complete rare earth Industry Chain is not an easy task and may take several years or even decades to complete.
Currently, the CHINA RAREEARTH Industry Chain holds an absolute leading position globally, with its rare earth ore reserves exceeding 40 million tons, accounting for about 40% of the world's total; the production of rare earth smelting and separation accounts for about 90% of the world.
