[virtualwhys]

MP is well positioned in the REE processing space -- now if the share price would stop collapsing then companies in the critical minerals sector would be able to raise capital more easily (MP is the bellwether for the sector)

[Animats]

Right. Since the 1980s, the Mountain Pass mine has gone bankrupt and shut down twice. Not because they did anything wrong, but because the prices of rare earths temporarily dropped below their production cost. Here's a general rare earth price graph.[1] It's tough having a business with fixed costs with a 10:1 price variation.

MP Minerals is now getting subsidies from both the U.S. Government and General Motors, both of which want a reliable source of magnets outside China. There are other sites in the US and Australia which could be developed if it was profitable. (Operating in Greenland, per Trump, is silly. The costs of operating anything big there are very high. No roads, no infrastructure, only a few months a year of ice-free construction time...)

[1] https://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-9-76...

[ksec]

Thanks. Now MP is on my radar.

[virtualwhys]

Certainly at $41, a 52 week low, it's a fire sale (hit $100 back in October.

[Animats]

They're totally at the mercy of world rare earth prices, which are manipulated by China. But they now have some cushion from government and GM funcing.