Apple’s big bet on rare earths puts ASX juniors in the spotlight

• Apple inks US$500m deal with Pentagon-backed MP Materials for the supply of rare earth magnets
• The partnership includes a tailor-made rare earths recycling line for Apple products to be built at MP’s Independence facility
• MP Materials shares jumped around 20% in the wake of the announcement, sparking gains among ASX-listed rare earth players in close proximity like Locksley Resources and Dateline Resources 

Apple and Pentagon-backed rare earths miner MP Materials have signed a US$500m deal for the supply of rare earth magnets, guaranteeing the tech giant a flow of supply free from China, the world’s largest producer.

And it’s bringing a cavalcade of ASX rare earths stocks along for the ride, including two ASX juniors literally on the doorstep of MP’s Mountain Pass mine in California, the only producing rare earths operation in the Land of the Free.

The deal includes establishing a dedicated rare earth recycling line specifically designed for Apple products at MP Materials’ Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas, with production and shipments targeted to kick off in 2027.

The new equipment and technical capacity will allow the miner to boost its overall production, with the American-made magnets to be shipped all over the country and the world once built.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said American innovation drives everything the company does, and it is proud to deepen its investment in the US economy.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to investment in the ingenuity, creativity and innovative spirit of the American people,” he said.

Ripple effect through ASX rare earth sector

Shares in MP Materials surged some 20% in the aftermath, sending shockwaves across the Pacific with the share prices of ASX-listed rare earth companies like Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) and Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) catching the wave.

Both own early stage rare earth projects within a whisker of Mountain Pass, the Western world’s second largest hard rock rare earth mine after Lynas’ (ASX:LYC) Mt Weld operation in WA.

Locksley’s Mojave rare-earths-antimony project is 1.4km from Mountain Pass in California’s Bernardino County, with its El Campo prospect sitting directly along strike from the asset.

The company, up 290% this year, recently received the green light from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to begin drilling the historical Desert antimony mine, within the wider Mojave project area, which last operated in 1937.

LKY CEO Nathan Lude told Stockhead Apple’s $500m commitment, in combination with the DoD’s multi-billion-dollar funding investment in MP Materials, is a watershed moment for the US rare earths sector.

“It demonstrates that global technology leaders are now willing to directly invest in securing domestic supply chains, which validates the long-term economic viability of US based rare earth production,” he said.

“It also sends a very clear signal to investors that the US critical minerals thematic is no longer speculative, it’s now a strategic imperative backed by major corporate and government commitments.

“For companies like Locksley, it strengthens the investment case significantly, as capital markets increasingly reward projects that are aligned with US supply chain resilience and positioned near established producers.

“The area we are located in is a tier-1 location for project development and it feels like the area is developing as a strategic critical minerals hub.”

The backbone of modern tech

From smartphones to wind turbines, rare earth magnets are the hidden force behind modern tech, transport and renewable energy.

But beyond that, rare earth magnets are also becoming critical to defence systems, with rising military budgets driving demand across drone and air force fleets, military tech and weaponry.

The $500m agreement underscores growing support for MP, backed by both a global corporate powerhouse and the US government, which is set to become its largest shareholder.

Last week’s multibillion-dollar public-private partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD) will make Uncle Sam a 15% owner in the miner.

Contained within that deal were loans to expand and construct new and existing magnet production plants and, crucially, a 10-year arrangement to buy or stockpile oxides from Mountain Pass at US$110/kg NdPr oxide.

That’s double the prevailing Chinese price for the key light rare earths, used in NdFeB (neodymium-iron-boron) magnets.

It’s not a fait accompli that the US Government’s intervention will permanently end China’s dominance of the rare earths supply chain.

Terra Capital analyst Dylan Kelly, known for his views on the rare earths market, said in a note this week that the DoD investment has “levelled the playing field”. But he warned of the risk of relying on a single supplier and the ambitious timelines included in the deal.

“In our view, there is little ability to quickly or easily resolve the current supply chain problems. But the current policy setting does create opportunities for investors. We urge capital allocators be mindful of the technical complexities that span metallurgy, niche markets and project execution,” he said.

Can more rare earth producers emerge with the help of the DoD’s price signal?

Locksley poised for a wave of catalysts

For years, the US has worked to cut its reliance on China, which curbed exports of seven medium-to-heavy rare earth products and some magnets earlier this year, rocking supply crucial to the auto, aerospace and semiconductor sectors around the world.

Shipments tumbled to their lowest levels in more than five years as a result, with Beijing declaring it would speed up its approval process in June after the US and China agreed to dial back trade tensions.

With a dual commodity focus on both antimony and rare earths, a drilling program planned for mid-September and US advisor Viriathus Capital appointed to support its expansion into North American markets, Lude said Locksley is entering a catalyst rich period.

“We believe this confluence of strategic location, timing and market dynamics positions Locksley to play a meaningful role in the US critical minerals supply chain,” he said.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the Mountain Pass operation has already established road, power, water, and processing infrastructure to support rare earth mining at scale.

“For Locksley, that means any future development would come in with reduced capital intensity and a faster pathway to production or toll processing.

“It makes sense for us to engage with the US investor community because they know and understand the groundswell that is happening,” Lude added.

“I heard yesterday that there’s now chat of rare earths and antimony being not just critical minerals but essential minerals for tech development for the future.

“It’s a very interesting time and I’m personally excited to be a part of it.”

Other ASX explorers nearby

Dateline Resources is another explorer reaping the benefits of the industry’s growing momentum, with shares up ~1200% this year on the back of increased investor interest in the Colosseum project in California, about 10km from Mountain Pass.

The project gained recognition for its rare earths prospects and gold resources from President Trump after highlighting the asset in his Truth Social weekly update in May, stating: “The Colosseum Mine, America’s second rare earths mine, has been approved after years of stalled permitting.”

That said, the quality and scale of its rare earths resources remains relatively unknown.

Colosseum hosts a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 27.1Mt at 1.26g/t gold for 1.1 Moz, with 67% in the measured and indicated categories.

A 2024 scoping study outlined an 8+ year mine life producing ~75,000 oz/year, with a pre-tax NPV of ~US$235 million and IRR of 31% at a US$2200/oz gold price.

Recent geophysical survey data has revealed portions of Colosseum’s emerging geophysical signature closely mirror that of the Mountain Pass deposit, exhibiting the same trio of anomalies.

DTR’s shares trade in the US under the OTC code DTREF and the process to list to OTCQB is underway, expected to finalise in early Q3.

And Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX:BMM) has kicked off exploration at its Desert Star asset, within the same regional corridor and only 4.5km northeast of Mountain Pass.

Initial fieldwork is underway, focused on early stage evaluation of REE potential through targeted sampling and geological reconnaissance.

Targets identified from radiometric anomalies across the project area are coincident with mapped occurrences of carbonatite-related lithologies and alkaline intrusives, which are considered key indicators of REE-bearing systems in the area.

The Apple news also gave a lift to advanced rare earths stocks back home in Australia – notably Lynas and fellow large cap Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) – and in Brazil, an exploration hotspot for rare earths.

Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI), Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM), Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) and Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM) were all up between 10-25% on Thursday.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Locksley Resources and Brazilian Critical Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.