Rare-earth push: Apple, MP team up

Apple has signed a $500 million deal with MP Materials to secure rare-earth minerals for its products

- Bloomberg

Apple Inc. has struck a $500 million deal to buy rare-earth minerals from MP Materials Corp., the US producer that just last week secured backing from the Pentagon.

The two firms will build a unit in Texas, with neodymium magnet manufacturing lines tailored for Apple products, the iPhone maker said Tuesday. It said spending on rare-earth minerals is part of its earlier pledge to invest more than $500 billion in the US over the next four years.