Overview

• CEO Barbara Humpton said the company is in close communication with the White House, sending shares up 23% Thursday, roughly 6% after hours, and about 13% in Friday premarket trading.
• The comment lands as the administration took a 5% stake in Lithium Americas this week and the Defense Department acquired a 15% stake in MP Materials in July.
• USA Rare Earth announced an agreement to acquire UK-based Less Common Metals for $100 million in cash plus 6.74 million shares, aiming to add rare-earth metal, alloy, strip-casting, and recycling capabilities.
• The company is developing the Round Top mine in Texas and a Stillwater, Oklahoma magnet facility that it says could begin output in early 2026, with plans to pre-sell a significant portion of initial production.
• USAR reported successful extraction of gallium and heavy rare earth concentrates at Round Top with 80% heavy-REE recovery under mild heap leach conditions, while remaining pre-revenue with a Q2 adjusted net loss of $7.8 million, $128.1 million in cash as of Aug. 7, 12 MOUs totaling about 300 tons per year, and a pipeline it describes as over 2,000 tons.