Australian magnate Rinehart takes stake in US miner MP Materials (updated)

Arafura Rare Earths

10/04/2024 04:35

(Changes dateline, adds Hancock response in paragraph 4, and
details in paragraph 5)
       MELBOURNE, April 10 (Reuters) - U.S. rare-earths
producer MP Materials  MP.N  said Australian billionaire Gina
Rinehart's mining firm had taken a 5.3% stake in the company,
expanding her investments in the mineral ore sector.
    In a regulatory filing last week, the Nevada-based miner
said Hancock Prospecting, owned by Australia's richest person
Rinehart, holds about 8.8 million shares of MP Materials.
    MP Materials is the second-biggest producer of rare earths
outside China after Australia's Lynas Rare Earths  LYC.AX .
Lynas ended talks with MP Materials over a potential merger in
February.
    Hancock declined to comment on Wednesday. 
    The iron ore miner has been building stakes in critical
minerals projects, including rare earths. Hancock's investments
include a 6.17% stake in Brazilian Rare Earths  BRE.AX  and a
9.14% holdings in Arafura Rare Earths  ARU.AX , according to
LSEG data. 
    
    

 (Reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Roshia Sabu in
Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Roshia.Sabu@thomsonreuters.com;))