MP Materials has closed the second quarter with a significant loss. The company, which specializes in mining rare earths, reported a net loss of $34.1 million. In the same period last year, the operator of the Mountain Pass Mine in California generated a net profit of 7.4 million dollars. Like the Australian Lynas Group recently, MP Materials points to the current low price level for its products. Despite the setback, the company believes it is well on the way to becoming the U.S.’s first fully integrated producer of rare earth magnets. The material mined in California and processed into neodymium-praseodymium oxide (NdPr) will, in the future, be further processed in Fort Worth, Texas, into NdPr metal and finally into neodymium-iron-boron alloys and finished magnets. According to MP-Materials, the first prototypes have already been produced, and NdPr production has increased significantly. Metal production is set to start this year.
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