Apple to Invest $500 Million in MP Materials

<p>Apple plans to invest &dollar;500 million with MP Materials&comma; the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the United States&period; With this multiyear deal&comma; Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth&comma; TX&period; The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass&comma; CA&comma; and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rare earth magnets are critical for use in many electronic systems and most of the world&&num;8217&semi;s supply comes from China&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&lbrack;<strong>Photo above<&sol;strong>&colon; Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products&period; Photo by MP Materials&period;&rsqb;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The commitment is part of Apple’s pledge to spend more than &dollar;500 billion in the U&period;S&period; over the next four years&comma; and builds on the company’s long history of investment in American innovation&comma; advanced manufacturing&comma; and next-generation recycling technologies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;American innovation drives everything we do at Apple&comma; and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U&period;S&period; economy&comma;” said Tim Cook&comma; Apple’s CEO&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology&comma; and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States&period; We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing&comma; and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity&comma; creativity&comma; and innovative spirit of the American people&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products&period; The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production&period; Once built&comma; the American-made magnets will be shipped across the country and all over the world&comma; helping to meet increasing global demand for the material&period; The increased production will support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&amp&semi;D&period; The two companies will provide extensive training to develop the workforce&comma; building an entirely new pool of U&period;S&period; talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When complete&comma; the new recycling facility in Mountain Pass&comma; California will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it for use in Apple products&period; For nearly five years&comma; Apple and MP Materials have been piloting advanced recycling technology that enables recycled rare earth magnets to be processed into material that meets Apple’s exacting standards for performance and design&period; The companies will continue to innovate together to improve magnet production&comma; as well as end-of-life recovery&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Apple pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics&comma; first introducing them in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11 in 2019&period; Today&comma; nearly all magnets across Apple devices are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements&period; The collaboration with MP Materials will help secure domestic supply of this critical material&comma; strengthen the U&period;S&period; rare earth industry’s capabilities to capture more raw material&comma; and advance environmental progress with innovative recycling methods&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;