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.

A mass shooting that killed 12 people in the Cleveland settlement, about 6 km east of central Johannesburg, is intensifying scrutiny of violent illegal gold mining networks around the city. At least 10 gunmen reportedly moved through the informal settlement on Tuesday night, firing at multiple locations before fleeing in a white vehicle; 11 victims died on site and one later in hospital, with no arrests yet made. The area hosts extensive zama zama activity around abandoned workings, where rival groups contest residual gold, prompting recent army deployments and weapons seizures.