Is MP Materials’ Saudi Arabia Joint Venture the Turning Point in the Rare Earth Race
Saudi partnership turbocharges America’s rare earth ambitions as MP Materials extends its global footprint and deepens its strategic ties with Washington and Riyadh.
Editorial Team (ET)November 21, 2025
MP Materials has once again seized the attention of Wall Street. The company’s shares surged after announcing a landmark joint venture in Saudi Arabia alongside the United States Department of War and Maaden, the kingdom’s dominant mining powerhouse. The move immediately electrified the market because it signals something investors have been waiting for an entire generation. A visible realignment of the rare earth supply chain away from China and toward a cooperative US Saudi axis.
The announcement marks a major geopolitical and industrial milestone. MP Materials, long recognized for operating Mountain Pass in California which remains the only rare earths mine in the United States, is now stepping onto a global stage with an ambition that matches the urgency of the moment. The world’s dependence on China for rare earths has remained the Achilles’ heel of Western manufacturing and defense planning. This joint venture begins to change that reality in real time.
A Refinery With Global Implications
At the heart of the agreement is a large scale rare earth refinery to be built in Saudi Arabia. MP Materials and the US DoW will together own 49 percent of the venture while Maaden will retain a controlling stake of at least 51 percent. The refinery will process both Saudi sourced feedstock and material from other regions then produce separated light and heavy rare earth oxides. These oxides will feed supply chains that touch everything from advanced manufacturing to next generation weapons systems.
For the US government this partnership is a strategic win. For Saudi Arabia it signals another layer of economic diversification. For MP Materials it is the culmination of a momentum filled year built on government partnerships capital commitments and expanding capabilities.
The timing of the announcement was particularly symbolic. It came one day after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to invest one trillion dollars into the United States deepening the emerging economic symbiosis between the two nations. Within hours investors rewarded MP Materials with an eight point two percent share price jump sending its market capitalization near eleven billion dollars. The stock is up almost three hundred percent this year reflecting rare enthusiasm for a rare earth champion that is finally scaling at the pace global politics demands.
