MP Materials announced on Thursday that it has selected Northlake, Texas, as the site for its new $1.25 billion rare earth magnet manufacturing campus. The decision comes as the United States intensifies efforts to strengthen domestic supplies of critical minerals essential to industries ranging from data centers and defense systems to consumer electronics.

The new campus, named “10X,” will rely on rare earth materials mined and processed at the company’s Mountain Pass facility in California. Mountain Pass is currently the only large-scale, commercially operating rare earth mine in the United States, making it a cornerstone of the country’s domestic supply chain strategy.

When fully operational, the 10X facility is expected to produce approximately 7,000 metric tons of rare earth magnets annually. Combined with existing operations, MP Materials’ total annual magnet production capacity will reach about 10,000 metric tons.

The company already operates a magnet manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, Texas, which began commercial production in 2025. That facility has an annual capacity of roughly 3,000 metric tons and supplies major customers including General Motors and Apple.

China continues to dominate global supply chains for critical minerals, particularly rare earth elements. The country controls more than 90 percent of the world’s rare earth processing, separation capacity, and magnet manufacturing. In 2025, China restricted rare earth exports, underscoring vulnerabilities in global supply chains and raising concerns in Washington about overreliance on foreign sources.

Amid these export controls, U.S. imports of rare earth magnets dropped to around 6,000 metric tons in 2025. The launch of MP Materials’ new Northlake facility could significantly reduce the nation’s direct dependence on imported magnets. However, overall U.S. demand remains much higher when factoring in finished goods such as electric vehicles and smartphones that contain rare earth magnets.

In response to supply chain risks, the United States Department of Defense has taken steps to support domestic production. In 2025, the department acquired a $400 million equity stake in MP Materials and guaranteed a minimum purchase price of $110 per kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium oxide over a 10-year period. This material is a key input for high-performance magnets. Under the agreement, the full output of the 10X facility has been committed to the Pentagon for the next decade, although commercial sales may be permitted with Department of Defense approval.

MP Materials founder and CEO James Litinsky said the company is moving quickly under its public-private partnership with the Defense Department to accelerate U.S. independence in rare earths and magnet manufacturing, emphasizing speed, operational execution, and delivery.

Construction of the Northlake campus is expected to create approximately 1,500 manufacturing and engineering jobs. Production at the 10X facility is scheduled to begin in 2028.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz described China as a significant national security challenge and noted that the United States remains dependent on Chinese-controlled supply chains for critical minerals. He said that investments such as MP Materials’ Northlake project are essential to reducing that dependence and strengthening American national security.