Apple will put $500 million into a Pentagon-backed rare earths company

Apple announced on Tuesday its investing $500 million in the rare earths company MP Materials.

The tech company said it will buy earth magnets produced at MP Materials’ Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas and it will work with the rare earth producer to create a rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California. 

On Thursday, MP Materials announced that the Department of Defense committed to purchasing $400 million of the company’s preferred stock, making the Pentagon the company’s largest shareholder. 

MP Materials’ Independence facility has plans to develop a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines for Apple products, according to its release. To aid in the production of magnets for Apple, the two companies plan to build “an entirely new pool of U.S. talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing,” the statement said. 

Apple said that once the new recycling facility in Mountain Pass is up and running, it will recycle rare earth feedstock (including electronics materials and “post-industrial scrap”) for use in Apple’s products. The iPhone maker said that it, alongside MP Materials, has been piloting rare earth recycling technology to repurpose materials for its products for almost five years. 

“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,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the statement. “We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of the American people.”

Apple has faced stark criticism from the Trump administration over its production in China with calls for the Cupertino, California-based company to return its manufacturing to the U.S. Apple vowed to move production of its U.S.-sold iPhones from China to India by the end of 2026, according to The Financial Times, and in February announced its commitment to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. Apple’s partnership with MP Materials is part of that commitment. 

“The collaboration with MP Materials will help secure domestic supply of this critical material, strengthen the U.S. rare earth industry’s capabilities to capture more raw material, and advance environmental progress with innovative recycling methods,” the statement said. 

The U.S. currently gets much of its rare earth minerals from China, but with Apple’s and the Pentagon’s recent investments in American-produced rare earth materials, that could change. 

- Shannon Carroll contributed to this article.