Highlights
- U.S.-based MP Materials and Saudi state mining giant Ma’aden sign MOU to develop a comprehensive rare earth supply chain.
- The partnership aims to leverage Saudi Arabia’s resources and strategic location to rebalance global rare earth element processing.
- Despite ambitious plans, significant challenges remain in displacing China’s current 90% global rare earth separation market contro.l
In a headline-grabbing move announced during President Donald Trump’s high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia, U.S.-based MP Materials signed a memorandum of understanding with Ma’aden, the Saudi state mining giant, to jointly develop a vertically integrated rare earth supply chain. The sweeping plan includes **mining, separation, refining, and rare earth magnet production—a full industry chain in a country lacking commercial REE processing capabilities.
The announcement is grand in ambition but short on specifics. MP Materials CEO James Litinsky declared it a “significant first step toward rebalancing the global supply chain” at a time when rare earths underpin transformative technologies like robotics, electric vehicles, and AI hardware. The partnership aims to leverage Saudi Arabia’s low-cost energy, capital abundance, and strategic location as a logistics hub. But beyond lofty promises and diplomatic fanfare, critical questions remain.
Saudi Arabia’s rare earth reserves, though estimated at 3.2 million metric tons, remain largely unexplored and undeveloped, reports China’s Shanghai Metals Market (opens in a new tab). The country has virtually no operational infrastructure for smelting or separation—a glaring technical gap. MP Materials, meanwhile, owns the U.S.’s only operating rare earth mine (Mountain Pass), but still sends nearly all of its concentrate to China for processing, despite years of promises to re-shore refining. Can two underdeveloped players build a globally competitive REE supply chain from scratch?
China’s dominance remains unshaken. With over 40 million metric tons in reserves, advanced refining capabilities, and more than 90% of global REE separation output, Beijing’s grip on the rare earth industry will not be easily displaced by press releases. A successful U.S.–Saudi alliance would require massive capital outlays, technical innovation, regulatory harmonization, and above all, time—likely a decade or more.
Bottom Line
The MP-Ma’aden pact reflects bold geopolitical ambition and a welcome pivot toward REE supply diversification. But for now, it is a strategic intention, not an operational reality. Until ground is broken, processing begins, and magnets are made at scale, this remains a desert mirage with a long road to viability. Investors and policymakers should watch for feasibility studies, offtake agreements, and technology licensing deals before hailing this as the birth of a new rare earth superpower.
Rare Earth Exchanges provides independent, investigative coverage of the global rare earth and critical mineral sectors.
Leave a Reply