MP Materials (NYSE:MP) says it has secured a long-term offtake agreement with a new US aerospace and defence customer for separated gadolinium, expanding its heavy rare earths business.
The rare earths producer announced the agreement in its Q2 2026 earnings report, though it did not disclose the customer’s identity or financial terms.
The new offtake “expands both our customer base and our heavy rare earth product portfolio,” Chairman and CEO James Litinsky says.
MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the US. Its operations are centred on the Mountain Pass mine in California, the Western Hemisphere’s largest producer of medium and heavy rare earths.
The company mines ore at Mountain Pass before refining it into separated products covering all 17 rare earth elements. It also produces rare earth alloys for permanent magnets at its manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
Gadolinium is a heavy rare earth used in MRI contrast agents, magnetic refrigeration technologies, and high-strength alloys.
Production and sales grow
For the June quarter, MP Materials reported strong operational growth.
Production of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), the primary raw material for magnets, rose 41% year-on-year to 840 tonnes, while NdPr sales more than doubled to 1,006 tonnes.
During the quarter, the Las Vegas-based company generated revenue of US$126.1 million ($178.4 million), including US$95.6 million from its materials business and US$16.5 million from magnets, minus cross-segment transactions. It also received US$17.6 million in price support payments from the US government, reducing its net loss to US$20.3 million from US$30.9 million last year.
Since last year, MP Materials has received a total of US$110.9 million in government support.
“MP Materials built on its strong start to the year, ramping NdPr production and sales volumes while generating solid adjusted EBITDA,” Litinsky says.
Write to Jackson Chen at Mining.com.au
Image: MP Materials
