U.S. moving fast to secure access to critical minerals to counter China's dominance of market, Pentagon says
The Defense Department last week agreed to buy a direct equity stake in MP Materials, which will make the U.S. government the miner's largest shareholder. MP operates the only rare earth mine in the U.S. located at Mountain Pass, California, and a magnet plant in Forth Worth, Texas.
When asked whether the Pentagon is considering similar investments in other U.S. mining companies, the defense official said it is looking at opportunities to strengthen domestic critical mineral production.
"Rebuilding the critical minerals and rare earth magnet sectors of the U.S. industrial base won't happen overnight, but DoD is taking immediate action to streamline processes and identify opportunities to strengthen critical minerals production," official said in a statement.
Rare earths are used in weapons such as the F-35 warplane, drones and submarines among other other military platforms. The U.S. was almost entirely dependent on foreign countries for rare earths in 2023, with China representing about 70% of imports, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
MP Materials CEO James Litinsky told CNBC last week that he views the public-private partnership with the Defense Department as a model for other companies in industries that are important for national security but struggle to compete against the state-backed enterprises in China.
"I'd like to think that this is sort of the first, it's a model," Litinsky told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. "We have to deliver at MP and show that this is an incredible route to go. But it's a new way forward to accelerate free markets, to get the supply chain on shore that we want."
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in April that the U.S. government was looking at taking direct equity stakes in critical mineral and rare earth miners to break China's dominance. The Trump administration is also looking at stockpiling critical minerals and creating a sovereign risk insurance fund to protect companies investments' in federally approved projects, Burgum said at an energy conference in Oklahoma City.
The Pentagon makes long-term investments in mining, processing and refining critical minerals, the defense official told CNBC. It has invested $540 million so far to support a critical mineral and rare earth supply chain in the U.S. and allied nations, the official said.
"That is significant, and DoD will continue to such efforts in accordance with congressional appropriations and statutory authorities," the official said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
23 minutes ago
- CNBC
Jim Cramer says buy these 2 cybersecurity stocks in the wake of Microsoft's attack
CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday that a pair of cybersecurity stocks are "big winners" following a cyberattack on Microsoft's SharePoint software. Speaking on "Squawk on the Street," Cramer identified both CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks as stocks to buy in light of the Microsoft incident that surfaced over the weekend. The software vulnerability enabled hackers to launch a major attack on U.S. government agencies and universities, among other parties, The Washington Post reported . "All I can tell you is the feedback is these companies have another wave of calls .. that then become clients, so you buy these," Cramer said shortly before Monday's opening bell. "You buy these aggressively because people did not know, once again, the vulnerabilities and you can't figure it out yourself." Plenty of investors are doing just that, with shares of Palo Alto Networks up around 3% Monday and CrowdStrike adding more than 1%. Microsoft's stock was relatively flat in the session. Cramer's Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club, owns a stake in all three companies. In a security alert on Saturday, Microsoft acknowledged the attack and said it only affected versions of SharePoint that companies run using on-premise servers, not the cloud-based version of the collaboration software. Still, thousands of organizations are exposed to the risk. Microsoft has released security updates for two versions of the SharePoint software. However, as of this writing, an update for the 2016 version is not available yet, according to Microsoft's website . The cyberattack is being described as a "zero-day attack" because it exploited a previously unknown flaw, allowing attackers to gain full access to SharePoint servers, enabling them to read, manipulate or delete content. When major security incidents occur, "what happens is you don't know who to call so call Nikesh Arora, [the CEO of] Palo Alto. You call George Kurtz [of CrowdStrike]. You say, 'Help me," Cramer said. "Microsoft is frantically trying to do a patch. These guys are frantically getting customers," Cramer added. The Microsoft attack underscores the growing security risks faced by organizations — and that's precisely why Cramer believes cybersecurity companies are an essential part of investors' portfolios. He believes CrowdStrike and Palo Alto are the best two around. CrowdStrike's Falcon platform leverages machine learning and behavioral analysis to detect threats, while Palo Alto Networks has comprehensive endpoint and network security through a host of products that monitor and block suspicious behavior. CrowdStrike is up over 40% year to date while Palo Alto is up more than 10% over the same period, both outperforming the S & P 500's more than 7% rise in 2025. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long CRWD, PANW and MSFT. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Trade Tracker: Amy Raskin trims ASML
Amy Raskin, CIO at Chevy Chase Trust, joins CNBC's "Halftime Report" to detail her latest trim of ASML
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
MP Materials Corp. (MP): 'Not As Big As Everyone's Trying To Make It,' Says Jim Cramer
We recently published . MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) is an American rare earth metals company. Trade tensions between the US and China, which have seen China use rare earth metals as leverage, have injected new life into its shares as they have gained 288% year-to-date. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)'s shares have gained 112% in July on the back of several catalysts, such as Pentagon and Apple investments. Here's what Cramer said about the firm: 'MP's not as big as everyone's trying to make it out to be. But it's just so, the Defense Department's in there, Apple's in there, they're gonna get what, look I remember the days when everyone owned Moly. Molycorp. Because that was the predecessor. I remember when Lee Cooper called me and said listen. . .you've got to buy MP Materials because of the whole Moly thing. I said Moly lost billions. He goes yes, so did MP. And that's what's happening. We need more than just that strip. We need more than that part of California. But I'm sure that we're gonna do it. It's a different world. We've got such religion again.' Cramer previously discussed MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)'s partnership with the Pentagon in detail: 'This morning, MP Materials announced that the Defense Department's taken a big stake in their company, which controls the largest rare earth mine in the country. The deal, which includes a $1 billion construction loan from a couple of banks along with a separate $150 million loan and a $400 million equity investment from the Defense Department, will ensure that MP can keep developing its Mountain Pass site and build a new rare earth magnet factory essential to our national security. It's all about having a reliable source of rare earths in order to reduce our dependence on China… Heavy machinery at work in a mining facility, excavating the earth for rare earth minerals. Now, suddenly, we know the strategic value of these rare earths… The Defense Department's assured us that the United States will be in a better position in the future by putting a price for the Mountain Pass site's key materials. You know what? It's an ingenious deal because it would simply cost too much for MP to refine all the rare earth minerals that our country needs by itself. We're finally getting serious about a national Achilles heel, and it's not just rare earths. Earlier this week, President Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper.' While we acknowledge the potential of MP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
