James Litinsky: Rare Earths Taking Center Stage in the Electric Vehicle Boom

The Interview ·
Featuring James Litinsky

Published on: December 8th, 2020 • Duration: 76 minutes

James Litinsky, founder and CEO of MP Materials ($MP), is joined by Real Vision editor Jack Farley to discuss his mission to restore to North America the rare earth supply chain, which for decades has been dominated by China. Litinsky highlights the critical role rare earth elements are playing in the economy of the future, explaining their uses in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other markets that are set to dramatically expand. After Litinsky shares his experience in MP Materials’ going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), he and Farley discuss the properties of MP Materials’ Mountain Pass mine that make it uniquely able to produce rare earth concentrate at a low cost and in an environmentally-friendly manner. Lastly, Litinsky, a former hedge fund manager, puts back on his "investor" hat to share his macro framework. For the Real Vision "Discoveries" documentary on the Mountain Pass mine, click here: https://www.realvision.com/shows/discoveries/videos/the-rare-earth-metal-megatrend. For more about MP Materials, click here: https://mpmaterials.com/. Filmed on December 2, 2020. Key Learnings: Litinsky believes rare earths are an effective "picks and shovels" play on the exponential growth of electric vehicles (EVs), since all electric vehicles require Neodymium Praseodymium (NdPr) magnets to power their motors, and since EV stocks are priced to perfection and are largely in the pre-profit stage (and in some cases, pre-revenue). Litinsky argues that the rich ore body of the Mountain Pass mine best positions MP Materials to command market share, calling the mine "the Saudi Arabia of Rare Earths."