MP Materials Corp DE

Currently, the Company sells the vast majority of its rare earth concentrate to Shenghe Resources (Singapore) International Trading Pte. Ltd. (“Shenghe”) under the terms of the Offtake Agreement, which became effective in March 2022. Shenghe is an indirect majority-owned subsidiary of Shenghe Resources Holding Co., Ltd., a leading global rare earth company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Under the Offtake Agreement, Shenghe is contractually obligated to purchase the Company’s rare earth concentrate product meeting certain minimum specifications as the exclusive distributor in China on a “take-or-pay” basis (such that they are obliged to pay for product even if they are unable or unwilling to take delivery), with certain exceptions for the Company’s direct sales globally. Shenghe then sells the rare earth concentrate it acquires to customers in China for processing into refined products. In addition, at the discretion of the Company, Shenghe may be required to purchase on a “take-or-pay” basis certain non-concentrate rare earth products, although the Company may sell all non-concentrate rare earth products in its sole discretion to customers or end users in any jurisdiction. The Company also regularly enters into short- and long-term sales contracts with other customers for the sale of its rare earth concentrate.

In January 2024, the Company entered into a new offtake agreement with Shenghe (the “New Offtake Agreement”), that replaced and extended the Offtake Agreement. The initial term of the New Offtake Agreement is two years, with the option for the Company to extend the term for an additional one-year period. The terms of the New Offtake Agreement are substantially the same as those of the Offtake Agreement with the exception of the addition of NdPr metal into the definition of non-concentrate rare earth products.

In February 2023, the Company entered into a distributorship agreement (the “Distribution Agreement”) with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (“Sumitomo”), under which Sumitomo serves as the exclusive distributor of the NdPr oxide and NdPr metal produced by the Company to Japanese customers. The initial term of the Distribution Agreement extends through the end of 2025 with options to renew annually. The Company intends to enter into other short- and long-term sales contracts with existing and new customers for separated rare earth products.

In April 2022, as discussed above, the Company entered into a long-term agreement with GM to supply magnets and related products manufactured at the Fort Worth Facility. The Company is also pursuing sales opportunities to other customers for its future magnet products.

Suppliers

The Company uses certain proprietary chemical reagents in its flotation process, which it currently purchases from third-party suppliers. The hydrometallurgy, separations, and product finishing processes are reliant upon certain commodity reagents. These chemicals are subject to pricing volatility, supply availability and other restrictions and guidelines. In the event of a supply disruption or any other restriction, the Company believes that alternative reagents could be sourced for certain processes.

Patents, Trademarks and Licenses

The Company relies on a combination of trade secret protection, nondisclosure and licensing agreements, patents and trademarks to establish and protect its proprietary intellectual property rights. The Company utilizes trade secret protection and nondisclosure agreements to protect its proprietary rare earth technology.

Competition

The rare earth mining and processing markets are capital intensive and highly competitive. With continued state-sponsored consolidation, there remain two major rare earth groups in China. These groups and their affiliates control (and/or allocate to unaffiliated third parties) substantially all of China’s quota for concentrate production and rare earth refining. Outside of China, there are few other producers operating at scale, with processing capabilities located in Australia and Malaysia.

Environmental and Regulatory Matters

The Company is subject to numerous federal, state and local environmental laws, certifications, regulations, permits, and other legal requirements applicable to the mining and mineral processing industry, including, without limitation, those pertaining to employee health and safety, air quality standards and emissions, water usage, wastewater and stormwater discharges, GHG emissions, hazardous and radioactive and other waste management, storage and handling of naturally occurring radioactive material, plant and wildlife protection, remediation of contamination, land use, reclamation and restoration of properties, procurement of certain materials used in the Company’s operations, groundwater quality and the use of explosives. Environmental laws and regulation continue to evolve which may require the Company to meet stricter standards and give rise to greater enforcement, result in increased fines and penalties for non-compliance, and result in a heightened degree of responsibility for companies and their officers, directors and employees. Future laws, regulations, permits or legal requirements, as well as the interpretation or enforcement of existing requirements, may require substantial increases in capital or operating costs to achieve and maintain compliance or otherwise delay, limit or prohibit operations, or other restrictions upon the Company’s current or future operations, or result in the imposition of fines and penalties for failure to comply.

Complying with these regulations is complicated and requires significant attention and resources. The Company expects to continue to incur significant sums for ongoing operating environmental expenditures, including salaries, and the costs for monitoring, compliance, remediation, reporting, pollution control equipment and permitting.

Information About Our Executive Officers

The persons serving as executive officers of MP Materials and their positions with the Company are as follows:

James H. Litinsky. Mr. Litinsky is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MP Materials. Mr. Litinsky is also the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of JHL Capital Group LLC (“JHL”), an alternative investment management firm. Before founding JHL in 2006, he was a member of the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund at Fortress Investment Group. Prior to Fortress, he was a Director of Finance at Omnicom Group, and he worked as a merchant banker at Allen & Company. Mr. Litinsky received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University, cum laude, and a J.D./M.B.A. from the Northwestern University School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar. Mr. Litinsky also serves as a member of the Boards of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Michael Rosenthal. Mr. Rosenthal is a Founder and the Chief Operating Officer of MP Materials. He has managed the Mountain Pass operation since the Company acquired the site in 2017. Before MP Materials, he was a Partner at QVT Financial (“QVT”), an investment management firm. At QVT, Mr. Rosenthal concentrated on investments in the global automotive sector and in China. Prior to joining QVT, he worked as a senior high yield credit analyst for Shenkman Capital Management. Mr. Rosenthal graduated from Duke University with an A.B. degree in Economics and Comparative Area Studies.

Ryan Corbett. Mr. Corbett joined MP Materials as its Chief Financial Officer in 2019. Prior to joining MP Materials, he was a Managing Director at JHL, where he focused on JHL’s investment in MP Materials. Before JHL, Mr. Corbett was a member of alternative asset managers Brahman Capital Corp. and King Street Capital Management LP, both based in New York, where he focused on special situations investments across the capital structure. Mr. Corbett began his career in investment banking and corporate finance at Morgan Stanley & Co. after graduating magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Finance.

Elliot Hoops. Mr. Hoops joined MP Materials as its General Counsel and Secretary in May 2021. Prior to joining MP Materials, he was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Penn National Gaming, Inc. (now known as PENN Entertainment, Inc. (“PENN”)), a regional gaming company, from January 2019 to May 2021, where he was responsible for a variety of legal matters, including commercial transactions, financings, corporate governance, securities law and gaming regulatory compliance. Prior to joining PENN, he was Vice President and Legal Counsel at Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (“Pinnacle”), a regional gaming company (which was acquired by PENN), from June 2007 to October 2018. Prior to Pinnacle, he was an associate at Holland and Knight LLP and an attorney advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Mr. Hoops received his B.A. in English from the University of Michigan, J.D. from the University of Miami, and LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Available Information

The Company’s website is located at www.mpmaterials.com. Annual reports on Form 10‑K, quarterly reports on Form 10‑Q, current reports on Form 8‑K, and amendments to those reports, proxy and information statements, earnings releases, and financial statements are made available free of charge on the investor relations section of the Company’s website as soon as reasonably practicable after the Company electronically files such materials with, or furnishes such materials to, the SEC. The Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is also available on the investor relations section of its website. The information contained on its website, or accessible from its website, is not incorporated into, and should not be considered part of, this Form 10‑K or any other documents the Company files with, or furnishes to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Annual reports, quarterly reports, current reports, amendments to those reports, proxy and information statements, earnings releases, financial statements and the Company’s various corporate governance documents, including its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, are also available free of charge upon written request.

Investors and others should note that the Company may announce material financial information to its investors using its investor relations website (https://investors.mpmaterials.com/overview), SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. The Company uses these channels as well as social media to communicate with its stockholders and the public about the Company, its services and other issues. It is possible that the information the Company posts on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, the Company encourages investors, the media, and others interested in MP Materials to review the information the Company posts on the social media channels listed on its investor relations website.

Other

The Company was incorporated on January 24, 2020, as a Delaware corporation under the name “Fortress Value Acquisition Corp.” (“FVAC”) and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. On November 17, 2020, the Company consummated the transactions contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of July 15, 2020, as amended on August 26, 2020 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among FVAC, certain direct wholly-owned subsidiaries of FVAC, MP Mine Operations LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“MPMO”), which owns the Mountain Pass mine and processing facilities, and Secure Natural Resources LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“SNR”), which holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, among other things, MPMO and SNR each became wholly-owned subsidiaries of FVAC (the “Business Combination”), which was in turn renamed “MP Materials Corp.”