General Motors (NYSE:GM) is set to receive its first offtake from MP Materials’ (NYSE:MP) Independence Plant in Fort Worth, Texas, US — more than five years after signing the long-term supply deal.
Signed in September 2021, the deal covers US-sourced and manufactured rare earth materials, alloy, and finished magnets. These components will supply the electric motors used across a number of GM models built on the Ultium Platform.
At the signing of the deal, GM Vice President for Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Shilpan Amin said GM is focused on building a resilient and sustainable electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing value chain in North America. The aim is to accelerate a mass market for EVs domestically.
Purchasing domestically is a goal that GM set out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic when supply chains were under stress. Combined with global reliance on China for a number of metals and minerals, that stress pushed the drive to regionalise supply chains.
GM’s agreement with MP Materials gives it more control of its supply chain, eliminating external factors that can come with bringing components in from other parts of the world.
MP Materials began producing rare earth metal in 2024 for GM, with first magnets produced in 2025. GM has since tested the resulting components in prototype motors at its engineering facilities in Michigan.
MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in North America, working across mining, processing, advanced metallisation, and magnet manufacturing.
The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Mine in California — a site that integrates mining, milling, flotation, separation, refining, and finishing.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Main image: MP Materials
