Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker (third from R) participates in the groundbreaking ceremony for part of a $700 million investment of new MP Materials facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The new facility is the first of its kind in the U.S. that will fully restore the country’s rare earth magnetics supply chain.
MP Materials Corp. recently celebrated the start of construction at its first rare earth metal, alloy and magnet manufacturing facility, located in Fort Worth, Texas, with a groundbreaking ceremony featuring many local officials.
The first-of-its kind U.S. facility is a substantial component of a $700 million investment MP Materials will make over the next two years to fully restore the U.S. rare earth magnetics supply chain.
Dallas-based Hillwood Construction Services will serve as the general contractor responsible for constructing the facility in Hillwood's 27,000-acre, mixed-use development, AllianceTexas.
The Texas facility will cost approximately $100 million — $40 million to construct and $60 million in installed equipment. The facility plans to begin manufacturing toward the end of 2023. It will create approximately 150 high-skill jobs and 1,300 indirect jobs.
"Today is an exciting day for North Texas and our entire country," said Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood Construction Services. "MP Materials is not only bringing its magnetics facility to AllianceTexas, but also reshoring important next-generation manufacturing jobs to America. Securing and developing rare earth materials is one of the most important national security issues of our day, and we're proud that AllianceTexas can partner with MP Materials to play a key role in America's ability to power its future."
This facility marks the start of an important benchmark for the entire country.
"We must have energy independence with U.S.-made renewable," Perot added. "If not, we're going to put our whole nation at risk."
MP Materials Founder, Chairman and CEO James Litinsky was on hand for the ceremony.
"I am very proud that we will be making magnets again in America here in Fort Worth," Litinsky said. "Bringing magnetics capabilities home is transformational for MP Materials and America's supply chains. I am very proud that after a series of executive orders spanning multiple presidential administrations, MP Materials is leading the restoration of the full supply chain and the revitalization of the American manufacturing spirit in our sector."
"Congratulations to MP Materials on the groundbreaking of its new magnet manufacturing facility and engineering headquarters in Fort Worth," Gov. Greg Abbott said. "This incredible investment will not only create more than 100 new jobs for hardworking Texans, but will also bolster the state's supply chain in high-tech industries while solidifying Texas as a mecca for advanced manufacturing and innovation. It's thanks to industry innovators like MP Materials that ‘Made in Texas' continues to be the most powerful global brand."
In addition to the ground breaking, MP Materials and General Motors have co-announced a definitive supply agreement to produce alloy and magnets for GM's EV programs. The definitive supply agreement solidifies the terms of a binding agreement announced by MP Materials and GM in December. Under the long-term agreement, MP Materials will supply U.S.-sourced and manufactured rare earth materials, alloy and finished magnets for the electric motors in more than a dozen models using GM's Ultium Platform, with a gradual production ramp that is expected to begin in late 2023, starting with alloy.
According to Anirvan Coomer, executive director, global purchasing and supply chain of General Motors, the new MP Materials magnetics facility in Fort Worth, Texas, will play a key role in GM's goal to build a secure scalable, and sustainable EV supply chain.
MP Materials' Fort Worth facility will have the capacity to produce approximately 1,000 tonnes of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets per year, supporting the production of approximately 500,000 EV traction motors, with room to scale. In addition to EVs, NdFeB magnets are critical inputs to robots, wind turbines, drones, defense systems and many other high-growth technologies. Adamas Intelligence, an independent research firm, forecasts that global demand for NdFeB magnets will triple by 2035 on the back of rising demand for EV traction motors, wind power generators, energy efficient consumer appliances, and more.
"This new MP Materials facility is an excellent fit for the groundbreaking work being done at AllianceTexas and it presents an incredible opportunity to bring more advanced manufacturing jobs home to the U.S. right here in Fort Worth," said Fort Worth Mayor Pattie Parker.
In February, the Department of Defense awarded MP Materials $35 million to refine and separate heavy rare earth elements at the company's Mountain Pass, Calif., rare earth materials production facility. MP's Texas magnetics factory will source refined feedstock from Mountain Pass and transform it into finished products, delivering an end-to-end supply chain, including mining and refining, metal, alloy, and magnet manufacturing, and recycling.
Mountain Pass is a closed loop, zero-discharge facility with a dry tailings process that recycles more than 1.7 billion liters of water per year. To optimize for efficiency and sustainability, byproduct generated from alloy and magnet manufacturing will be recycled in a closed loop to every extent possible.
About MP Materials
MP Materials Corp. is the largest producer of rare earth materials in the Western Hemisphere. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, North America's only active and scaled rare earth production site. Separated rare earth elements are critical inputs to the world's most powerful and efficient magnets found in electric vehicles, drones, defense systems, wind turbines and various advanced technologies. The company is developing U.S. metal, alloy and magnet manufacturing capacity to build these critical components domestically.
For more information, visit https://mpmaterials.com/.
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