MP Materials’ chief operating officer Michael Rosenthal has increased his stake in the NYSE-listed rare earth producer, buying 10,000 shares at US$54.30 each via his family trust, bringing his holding to 136,622 shares. The move comes as MP Materials, owner of the Mountain Pass mine in California – currently the only operating rare earths mine in the US – trades around US$53 per share with a market capitalisation of about US$9.5 billion. The stock has halved from its October peak of US$100.25 but is nearly double its level a year ago, supported by a US$400 million Department of Defense equity investment.

Schneider Electric and Torngat Metals have signed a non-binding MoU to develop an integrated rare earths value chain centred on the Strange Lake project in Nunavik, with supporting infrastructure in Labrador and a planned separation plant at Sept-Îles, Quebec. Strange Lake’s B-zone hosts indicated resources of 278.1 million tonnes at 0.93% TREO, 1.92% ZrO₂ and 0.18% Nb₂O₅, plus 214.4 million tonnes inferred at 0.85% TREO, notable for heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium. The partnership will leverage Schneider’s electrification, automation and digital systems to design “next-generation” mining and processing operations.

Global mining M&A in Q1 2026 reached US$26.28 billion, up 63% quarter-on-quarter and the second-highest quarterly value since 2013, driven by corporate-level deals such as the US$10 billion acquisition of BlueScope Steel after S&P Global began including steel transactions. Deal volume slumped to 46 transactions, roughly half the December quarter, with 30 company acquisitions versus 16 asset purchases as miners chase immediate scale and long-term supply. Asset deals totalled US$3.35 billion, 221% higher year-on-year, supported by the US$1 billion sale of the Çöpler gold mine in Turkey and continued focus on copper-gold targets.