On February 22, 2022, the White House announced that it has awarded MP Materials $35 million for its magnet processing plant to separate and process heavy rare earth elements at its facility in Mountain Pass, California, as part of a strategy to boost domestic production of rare earth metals.[1] The announcement follows an executive review of the vulnerabilities of the U.S.’s critical mineral and material supply chains, per Executive Order 14017. MP Materials, which operates the only rare earth mining and processing site of scale in North America, will also invest another $700 million of its own money into the effort. According to the press release, China currently controls 87% of the global permanent magnet market, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.

In addition, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables (BHE Renewables) announced that in spring 2022, they will break ground on a new demonstration facility in Imperial County, California, to test the commercial viability of their sustainable lithium extraction process from geothermal brine. If successful, the company could reach commercial-scale production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate by 2026. Other announcements in the White House fact sheet included a pilot from Redwood Materials for collection and recycling of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries at its Nevada based facilities and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) $140 million demonstration project funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to recover rare earth elements and critical minerals from coal ash and other mine waste.

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/22/fact-sheet-securing-a-made-in-america-supply-chain-for-critical-minerals/