Mountain Pass
America's own rare-earth mine, although much of its output has been refined in China.
- Material
- Rare earths
- Stage
- Mine
- Place
- California, United States
- Operator
- MP Materials
- Coordinates
- 35.48° N, 115.53° W
Seen from orbit
- Heat
- 0 of the last 7 days and 0 of the last 30 had furnace-hot pixels within 6 km (NASA FIRMS).
- Surface temperature
- Landsat, 25 Oct 2026: typical ground 23.5 °C; 0.1 ha more than 8 °C warmer than the land around it; hottest spot 9.4 °C above it.
- Radar
- Latest Sentinel-1 radar picture: 27 Oct 2026.
Signals show activity, not output. They are measured automatically and can be affected by weather, terrain and fires.
Facts
- The only rare-earth mining and processing site in the US
- The US mined about 45,000 t of rare-earth oxide in 2024 (USGS)
- JPMorgan helped arrange $1 billion to expand MP's US magnet production (Fortune, Oct 2026)