by Apple has announced a $500 million deal with MP Materials, committing to purchase American-made rare earth magnets manufactured at the company’s Fort Worth plant and work on other issues related to recycling material key to the technology company’s phones and other computing devices.
The move comes a week after the U.S. Department of Defense invested $400 million in the company to shore up the country’s domestic supply of rare earth minerals and magnets.
As part of their agreement, Apple and MP Materials will build out the Fort Worth factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products.
The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production at the plant, essentially doubling production to 2,000 metric tons, according to the company.
The plant currently can produce about 1,000 metric tons of magnets. With investments from Apple and the Department of Defense, the company wants to produce about 10,000 metric tons.
To accomplish that, MP Materials plans to expand the Fort Worth plant and open a second plant at a so-far undisclosed location.
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Apple and MP Materials will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line at MP Material’s mine in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance.
“American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States.”
The Apple announcement sent shares of MP Materials Corp., which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the MP symbol, up 25% late July 15, closing at $58.22, an increase of nearly 20%.
The Department of Defense deal, announced July 10, made the agency the largest shareholder in MP Materials.
It also came with $1 billion in financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group to fund that second plant.
After breaking ground on the Fort Worth plant in April 2022, MP Materials began commercial production of neodymium-praseodymium metal and trial production of automotive-grade, sintered neodymium-iron-boron magnets in January.
“We are proud to partner with Apple to launch MP’s recycling platform and scale up our magnetics business,” said James Litinsky, founder, chairman and CEO of MP Materials in a statement. “This collaboration deepens our vertical integration, strengthens supply chain resilience, and reinforces America’s industrial capacity at a pivotal moment.”
Magnet shipments are expected to begin in 2027 and ramp up to support hundreds of millions of Apple devices. MP Materials and Apple will also innovate together to accelerate technological advancements in magnet production, as well as end-of-life recovery.
MP Materials magnets are essential components in vehicles, drones, robotics, electronics and aerospace and defense systems, yet the U.S. has relied almost entirely on foreign sources for these critical inputs for decades.
At the moment, China accounts for 92% of the world’s magnet production and 58% of rare earth mining, according to a report by
the U.S. Department of Energy.
MP Materials has attracted other Fortune 100 partners. General Motors also signed a contract with the company to supply high-powered magnets to use in more than a dozen of its EVs. The company expects to start producing magnets for GM’s electric vehicles later this year.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at
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