On August 10, Eastern Time, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) website, the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) announced its first direct loan to strengthen the U.S. industrial base and secure critical mineral supply chains. As part of a broader agreement between the DoD and MP Materials, the owner and operator of a U.S. rare earth mine, in July 2025, the OSC provided a $150 million (approximately RMB 1.1 billion) loan.
Emil Michael, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, stated, "With this loan, we are taking decisive action to restore domestic critical mineral supply chains, revitalize our industrial base, and rebuild our military to achieve President Trump’s goal of peace through strength."
The $150 million loan to MP Materials comes from the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. The act provides the OSC with $500 million in credit subsidy funding, creating up to $100 billion in available loan authority specifically for critical mineral production and related industries and projects.
Headquartered in Las Vegas, MP Materials is the only rare earth miner in the U.S., operating the Mountain Pass mine in California. The company plays a critical role in the rare earth supply chain, especially as the U.S. seeks to reduce reliance on external rare earth supplies.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) wrote in its 2025 "Mineral Commodity Summaries": "The U.S. has one and only one rare earth mine—located in Mountain Pass, California."
MP Materials had previously received a $400 million equity investment from the DoD, with the Pentagon becoming its largest shareholder by purchasing preferred stock, holding a 15% stake.
The DoD’s investment agreement includes support for MP Materials to build a second rare earth magnet manufacturing facility in the U.S. to expand rare earth processing and magnet production capacity. Under the agreement, the DoD will purchase the company’s praseodymium-neodymium oxide products at a guaranteed price of $110 per kilogram—nearly double the market price.
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs also provided MP Materials with a total of $1 billion in financing commitments to support the construction and development costs of the new facility. Dubbed the "10X Plant," the new facility is expected to begin trial operations in 2028, increasing U.S. magnet production capacity to 10,000 tons annually.
James Litinsky, founder and CEO of MP Materials, said, "This move marks the Trump administration’s decisive action to accelerate U.S. supply chain independence."
Stock Price Soars
In the U.S. stock market, MP Materials’ shares continued to surge, skyrocketing over 10% intraday on August 8 (last Friday), hitting a record high. At the close, the stock price stood at $74.32, up 4.57%, with its market capitalization rising to $13.028 billion (approximately RMB 93.6 billion). Its year-to-date gain in 2025 expanded to 376.4%.
In addition to strong support from the DoD, MP Materials also secured a major $500 million agreement with Apple, the U.S. consumer electronics giant, to exclusively supply rare earth magnets for iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products manufactured in the U.S.
Litinsky stated in an earnings call that prepayments from the Apple deal would fund most of the capital expenditures required for large-scale expansion at the "Independence" rare earth mine in Texas.
Notably, Apple recently announced an unprecedented U.S. investment plan—committing an additional $100 billion in domestic investment, bringing its total U.S. investment over the next four years to $600 billion. According to Apple’s "Apple Made in America" initiative, all iPhone and Apple Watch glass covers will be manufactured in the U.S., while rare earth magnets will be sourced from MP Materials. Apple also plans to establish an end-to-end supply chain for chips and core consumer electronics components in the U.S.
