Trump Is Betting Big on Rare Earth Minerals. He Could Snap Up These 3 Stocks Next.

The Trump administration’s decision to take an equity stake in MP Materials (MP) sent shockwaves through the mining sector. The Pentagon’s unprecedented deal with America’s largest rare earth producer included a government equity position and a price floor of $110 per kilogram for key magnetic materials. Now investors are wondering which companies might be next in line for similar federal backing.

The rationale is straightforward, as China controls roughly 70% of U.S. rare earth imports, giving Beijing enormous leverage over materials critical to everything from F-35 fighter jets to electric vehicles (EVs) and smartphones.

For years, China has allegedly suppressed prices to squeeze Western competitors out of the market. The MP Materials deal signaled Washington’s willingness to abandon strict free market principles and meet national security demands.

The government needs multiple partnerships to diversify risk and ensure reliable domestic production of these strategic materials. So, here are three other mining stocks that should be on your watchlist right now.

Valued at a market cap of $1.67 billion, USA Rare Earth (USAR) is a pre-revenue company engaged in mining, processing, and supplying rare earths and other critical minerals in the United States. It explores for neodymium, dysprosium, terbium, gallium, beryllium, lithium, and other critical minerals.

USA Rare Earth is making aggressive moves to challenge China’s dominance in the critical minerals sector through a transformative $100 million acquisition of UK-based LCM. The deal aims to complete an integrated mine-to-magnet supply chain that few Western companies can match.

LCM brings 30 years of proven operating experience and stands as the only scaled producer of samarium metal outside China. It currently operates with a capacity of 1,500 metric tons, with plans to expand to 20,000 metric tons over the next decade. This metal-making capability fills a critical gap in USA Rare Earth’s supply chain, sitting between its Round Top heavy rare earth deposit in Texas and its 5,000-ton magnet production facility under construction in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

USA Rare Earth’s Round Top deposit contains valuable heavy rare earths, such as terbium and dysprosium, which sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars per kilogram, compared to the cheaper light rare earths that competitor MP Materials produces.

The company raised $125 million through a common stock offering at $15 per share to fund the acquisition and ongoing expansion. Management expects to commission its first 600-metric-ton magnet production line in Q1 2026, with plans to reach 1,200 tons by the end of 2026. The company has signed memorandums of understanding with 12 customers and maintains a pipeline of 70 potential clients representing 5,000 to 7,000 metric tons of annual demand.

Out of the five analysts covering USAR stock, four recommend “Strong Buy,” and one recommends “Hold.” The average USAR stock price target is $19, which is above the current price of $17.20.

Valued at a market cap of $2 billion, Ramaco Resources (METC) develops, operates, and sells metallurgical coal used in steelmaking. It manages five major coal properties across West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming, totaling approximately 190,750 acres. Ramaco Resources is transforming from a pure metallurgical coal producer into a dual-platform company with a potentially game-changing rare earth and critical minerals operation.

The company’s Brook Mine in Wyoming represents America’s first new rare earth mine in over 70 years and contains 1.7 million tons of total rare earth oxide across just one-third of its 16,000-acre property.

Unlike traditional hard rock deposits, the rare earths at Brook Mine are co-mingled with coal in soft material that’s easier and cheaper to process. The deposit contains five of the seven rare earth elements recently banned from Chinese imports, including high-value heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, which are worth hundreds to thousands of dollars per kilogram. The mine also holds scandium, with Western aerospace customers reportedly willing to consume six times current demand if a secure domestic supply existed.

Fluor’s preliminary economic analysis outlined a pretax net present value of $1.2 billion, with a 38% internal rate of return and a steady-state EBITDA of $143 million by 2029. The analysis also included initial capital costs of $473 million, excluding contingency. Ramaco has accelerated its timeline and now expects commercial oxide production in 2027 rather than 2028.

In the coal segment, second-quarter results showed cash costs of $103 per ton, placing Ramaco in the first quartile of the U.S. cost curve despite weak pricing. It achieved record production for the second consecutive quarter while temporarily idling its higher-cost Eagle mine. Management trimmed full-year sales guidance purely due to pricing weakness, refusing to sell tons at negative margins into oversupplied Asian spot markets.

Out of the four analysts covering METC stock, three recommend “Strong Buy,” and one recommends “Hold.” The average METC stock price target is $27.67, below the current price of $33.

The final stock on the list is NioCorp (NB), which explores and develops mineral deposits in North America. Its flagship mineral property is the Elk Creek niobium, scandium, and titanium project that consists of a 227-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights. It also owns an additional 80 acres of surface rights and 40 acres of mineral rights, as well as an optioned land package that covers an area of 1,272 acres located in Johnson County, southeast Nebraska.

NioCorp is advancing its fully permitted Elk Creek project, which aims to become America’s domestic source for multiple critical minerals currently imported almost entirely from other countries.

The project’s economics remain compelling, with $403 million in annual EBITDA over a 38-year mine life. However, these figures don’t yet include the recently added rare earth production or the six times more titanium output resulting from an improved process flow. Management expects the updated feasibility study to show significantly improved numbers when it is released later this year.

NioCorp has raised over $152 million in 2025, maintaining a zero-debt balance sheet while advancing toward the final investment decision. It received a $10 million Department of Defense grant supporting reserve drilling, which will upgrade probable reserves to proven status, thereby reducing project risk. Nine drill holes are complete, with analytical results expected to be released on a hole-by-hole basis in the coming months.

Out of the three analysts covering NB stock, two recommend “Strong Buy,” and one recommends “Hold.” The average stock price target for NB is $6.62, which is below the current price of $6.68.

On the date of publication, Aditya Raghunath did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com