[13] While in bankruptcy, Secure Natural Resources (SNR), a company owned by Molycorp's creditors, including JHL Capital Group, gained control of the mine's mineral rights.

[15] MPMO was a consortium formed principally by JHL Capital Group, a Chicago-based investment firm led by James Litinsky, along with QVT Financial LP and Shenghe Resources.

[24] MP Materials and Australia's Lynas held a confidential discussion regarding a potential merger which fell through on February 5, 2024.

[30][31] Discovered in 1949 in San Bernardino County, California, Mountain Pass mine consists of a bastnäsite ore-body with significant concentrations of rare earth elements.

[35][36] As of 2023, MP Materials had a three-stage plan for scaling its operations:[37] As of 2023, stages II and III were underway and the company had begun production of refined rare earths.

[38][39] MP Materials signed a supply chain agreement with Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation in 2023.

[43][44] On September 30, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting China's dominance of rare earth materials.

[45][46][47] In 2021, MP Materials received $3 million in funding from the United States Department of Energy to design and study the feasibility of a system to produce rare earth oxides and metals from coal by-products in collaboration with the University of Kentucky.

[51][52] The Biden administration said the federal funding is earmarked to assist the company to develop a new commercial facility for “heavy” rare earth mineral processing.