Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has become the largest shareholder in MP Materials, the US-based rare earths producer.
Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting raised its stake in MP Materials to 8.4% after acquiring an additional one million shares during the third quarter, making her the top shareholder in the company, reported Bloomberg.
As of 30 September, Hancock Prospecting’s US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds were valued at around $3bn (A$4.62bn), according to a recent regulatory filing.
The increased shareholding in MP Materials, valued at $997m at the end of September, currently represents the largest holding in Hancock’s portfolio, based on Bloomberg calculations.
James Litinsky, the CEO and founder of MP Materials, is the company's second-largest shareholder with a 7.9% stake.
MP Materials operates the only rare earths mine in the US, and in July secured a $400m equity investment from the Pentagon.
The latest investment by Rinehart has expanded her business group's involvement in the US defence supply chain.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Rinehart’s net worth is currently $32.3bn, derived primarily from iron ore assets in Western Australia.
MP Materials plans to commission a new heavy rare earth separation facility at Mountain Pass in California, US, in mid-2026.
The facility is designed to process approximately three billion tonnes per annum (btpa) of feedstock and will initially prioritise the production of dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb).
The Dy/Tb circuit will have a nameplate capacity of 200 million tonnes per annum and support MP Materials’ planned production of 10btpa of high-performance neodymium iron boron magnets.
MP Materials describes itself as the US’ only integrated rare earth producer operating across the entire supply chain, from mining and processing to advanced metallisation and magnet manufacturing.
Drawing from one of the world’s richest rare earth deposits in California, the company extracts and refines materials and manufactures high-performance magnets used across transportation, energy, robotics, defence and aerospace.
In May this year, Maaden signed a memorandum of understanding with MP Materials to create a fully integrated, end-to-end rare earth supply chain in Saudi Arabia.
