 Mountain Pass mine – open pit (left) mill (right background) | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Mountain Pass Mine Location in California | |
| Location | Mountain Pass, San Bernardino County |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 35°28′43″N 115°31′57″W / 35.47861°N 115.53250°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Rare-earth elements in concentrates |
| Production | 38,000 tonnes[1] |
| Financial year | 2020 |
| Type | open-pit |
| History | |
| Discovered | 1949 |
| Opened | 1952 |
| Active | 1952–2002, 2007–2015, 2017– |
| Owner | |
| Company | MP Materials Corp. |
| Website | Mountain Pass Mine |
| Year of acquisition | 2017 |
The Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility, owned by MP Materials, is an open-pit mine of rare-earth elements on the south flank of the Clark Mountain Range in California, 53 miles (85 km) southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2020 the mine supplied 15.8% of the world's rare-earth production. It is the only rare-earth mining and processing facility in the United States.[1][2] It is the largest single known deposit of such minerals.[3]
As of 2022, work is ongoing to restore processing capabilities for domestic light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and work has been funded by the United States Department of Defense to restore processing capabilities for heavy rare-earth metals (HREEs) to alleviate supply chain risk. [4]
- ^ a b Gambogi, Joseph (January 29, 2021). "Rare Earths". Mineral Commodity Summaries (PDF). Reston, Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-1-4113-4398-6. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ "The Californian Rare Earths Mine Caught Between Trump and China". Bloomberg News. September 26, 2018. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
- ^ Norris, Robert M.; Webb, Robert W. (1990). Geology of California (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons. p. 244. ISBN 0-471-50980-9.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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