Laos Plans to Halt Raw Ore Exports by Mineral Type and Timeline, Stops Approving New Rare Earth Projects

MP Materials is accelerating its push to build a fully integrated U.S. rare earth supply chain, reporting record NdPr production and progress toward heavy rare earth and magnet manufacturing. In 2025, its Mountain Pass operations delivered a record 2,599 metric tons of neodymium-praseodymium, more than double the 1,294 metric tons produced in 2024. First-quarter 2026 NdPr output hit a record 917 metric tons, up 63% year over year, and second-quarter production rose 41% year over year to 840 metric tons despite a scheduled semiannual maintenance outage; management expects third-quarter 2026 NdPr production to have exceeded 1,000 metric tons. The company remains on track to begin producing terbium and dysprosium later this year, with first samarium production targeted for 2028, and recently signed a multiyear agreement to supply gadolinium oxide to a leading U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer. In December 2025, MP produced its first commercial-scale neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets at its Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and it has been delivering magnetic precursor products to General Motors under a supply agreement since the first quarter of 2025. As of June 30, 2026, MP had collected $150 million in required GM prepayments and delivered $104.5 million of precursor products, with the remaining $45.5 million expected within a year, after which it expects to shift to finished magnet sales; it delivered magnets to GM for in-vehicle qualification testing in the second quarter of 2026 and expects commercial shipments to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. MP has begun construction of the 10X magnetics facility, which is expected to contribute to total production capacity of approximately 10,000 metric tons of NdFeB rare-earth magnets per year, and it has launched Project Swarm with U.S. and allied drone manufacturers while continuing its partnership with Apple on magnet recycling and production.

Medaro Mining Corp. announced results from a high-resolution, low-elevation drone magnetic survey completed across the central section of its Bastnäs Project in central Sweden as part of its 2026 exploration program. The survey identified multiple magnetic high structures correlating with historical iron ore mines, strongly defined magnetic high lineaments trending northeast-southwest across the project area, and a structural fabric overprint that breaks up those lineaments. Coverage gaps caused by terrain, environmental and operational constraints will be infilled during a Phase 2 drone magnetic survey planned for 2027. The geophysical data is being interpreted alongside the company's 2026 surface sampling results, which included 218 rock chip samples collected from new outcrops and historic workings, with previously reported results of up to 32.99% TREO, 16.5 grams per tonne gold and 23.7% copper. Medaro has identified six principal areas of interest from the combined geological, geochemical and geophysical results, and President and CEO Mark Carruthers said the survey has helped prioritize several areas for follow-up exploration and drilling. The Bastnäs Project comprises two mineral exploration permits, Bastnäs 100 and Bastnäs 200, held on trust by McKnight Resources AB, and one permit, Bäckegruvan nr 1, held on trust by Explora Mineral AB, all intended to be transferred 100% to Medaro pending regulatory approvals.

Canamera Energy Metals Corp. has received a three-year Exploration Permit from the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Mines for the Schryburt Lake Rare Earth Element-Niobium Project in northwestern Ontario and has signed a Community Benefit Agreement with Nibinamik First Nation, clearing the way for the project's first-ever diamond drill program to begin in mid-October 2026. The permit, effective from September 10, 2026 to September 9, 2029, authorizes a 19-hole diamond drilling program plus mechanized stripping and trenching, line cutting and geophysical surveys across 36 claims covering the core of the Schryburt Lake Carbonatite Complex. The initial phase, mobilizing October 16, 2026, comprises approximately 1,500 metres of helicopter-supported diamond drilling in three holes testing the Blue Jay, Starling and Blackbird targets, with a budget of approximately CAD $1.7 million. This is the first diamond drill program on the project and the first drilling of any kind since six shallow reconnaissance holes totalling 293 metres were completed in 1977. Expenditures under the program further the CAD $1.5 million First Option expenditure condition under the company's JV Option Agreement, through which Canamera may earn an initial 51% interest in the project, and up to a 90% interest through a three-stage earn-in requiring aggregate expenditures of CAD $9.0 million.

Energy Fuels reported $996 million in working capital as of June 30, 2026, up from $927.4 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, including $58.4 million of cash and cash equivalents and $878.3 million of marketable securities. The company's net cash used in operating activities declined to $17.8 million in the first half of 2026 from $44.8 million a year earlier, while net cash used in investing activities rose to $133.3 million from $75.2 million on higher investments in marketable securities, equipment and mineral properties, plus contributions to the Donald Project joint venture. In June, Energy Fuels received a conditional $725 million financing commitment from the U.S. Office of Strategic Capital, a proposed 20-year loan to support critical minerals processing expansion at the White Mesa Mill and a planned U.S. rare earth metals and alloys facility, subject to customary conditions and approvals. Among peers, MP Materials generated $4.9 million of operating cash flow in the first half of 2026 versus an outflow of $66.9 million a year earlier, and spent $307.7 million on property, plant and equipment, up from $59.5 million, ending with $429.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. Centrus Energy reported $16.7 million of operating cash outflow in the first half of 2026 against $89.3 million of inflow a year earlier, with capital expenditures surging to $94.8 million from $5.7 million and cash and cash equivalents of $1.87 billion as of June 30, 2026.