NEW YORK — Dec. 18, 2025 (12:00 p.m. ET) — Rare metals and critical-minerals stocks are trading mixed at midday on U.S. exchanges, as investors weigh a fresh geopolitical signal from Beijing against a growing U.S. policy push to localize strategic supply chains.
The biggest sector headline on Thursday: China confirmed it has begun granting “general licences” for rare earth exports—a new permit category designed to speed shipments of the inputs that sit inside everything from electric motors and wind turbines to defense electronics. [1]
Midday scoreboard: key U.S.-listed rare metals names (around 12:04 p.m. ET)
Here’s where several widely followed rare-metals and strategic-minerals tickers stood around midday Eastern time:
- MP Materials (MP): $52.03, roughly flat on the day (intraday range $51.98–$55.09)
- USA Rare Earth (USAR): $13.46, down ~0.7% (intraday range $13.44–$14.69)
- Energy Fuels (UUUU): $13.865, up ~2.9% (intraday range $13.47–$14.15)
- Critical Metals Corp. (CRML): $7.21, down ~0.7%
- NioCorp (NB): $5.36, up ~1.5%
- Perpetua Resources (PPTA): $26.50, up ~2.7%
- Lithium Americas (LAC): $4.525, down ~1.8%
- Albemarle (ALB): $137.70, up ~2.2%
- Trilogy Metals (TMQ): $4.48, up ~3.7%
- VanEck Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX): $72.07, up ~0.6%
In the broader tape, global markets were digesting a “risk-on” nudge after a softer U.S. inflation print, with Reuters noting November CPI running 2.7% year-over-year in its wrap of Thursday’s macro backdrop and central-bank divergence. [2]
The catalyst investors are watching: China confirms “general licences” for rare earth exports
China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday that it has granted several general licences—a “new category” intended to speed up shipments of rare earth elements. [3]
Two details in the official readout are especially relevant for U.S.-listed rare earth and strategic metals stocks:
- Implementation remains murky. China acknowledged approvals, but didn’t provide granular specifics on how many licences have been issued or the precise terms. [4]
- Supply-chain linkage is explicit. Reuters previously reported that suppliers to Ford had received new licences; China’s briefing on Thursday referenced approved applications without confirming a Europe-specific rollout, while Europe’s trade chief said the EU had heard initial reports but still lacked detail. [5]
For traders, that combination—headline easing, plus operational uncertainty—often translates into choppy price action across the rare-metals complex: optimism that bottlenecks could loosen, countered by the reality that export controls and compliance regimes can tighten quickly again when geopolitics shifts.
Why this matters for U.S. rare metals stocks, even if export paperwork gets easier
At first glance, faster export licences could sound bearish for non-China supply—if it reduces “scarcity fear.” But in practice, the market usually prices rare-metals equities off three overlapping themes:
- Strategic dependence is still the story. Even when licences are granted, they underscore how quickly supply can become political. That’s a tailwind for companies building alternative production, refining, and magnet-making capacity outside China. [6]
- Downstream buyers are still scrambling. In a separate Reuters report this month, GE Vernova described working with the U.S. government to build stockpiles of yttrium, noting that prices outside China had surged dramatically earlier in 2025—an illustration of how quickly rare-element markets can seize up. [7]
- Washington is increasingly acting like a supply-chain “backstop.” The U.S. policy response isn’t limited to rhetoric. It ranges from direct support for domestic processing projects to overseas infrastructure meant to move strategic metals more reliably. [8]
In other words: Thursday’s China headlines may reduce near-term panic—but they also reinforce the incentive structure that has been building all year for “friendly supply” projects.
MP Materials (MP): the bellwether rare earth stock still trading like a policy proxy
MP Materials remains the most prominent U.S.-listed pure-play on rare earths, and it often trades as a barometer of U.S. industrial policy as much as a commodity producer.
Around midday, MP was roughly flat near $52 after touching above $55 earlier in the session—an intraday move that fits the stock’s recent pattern of sharp swings around policy and positioning headlines.
On fundamentals, MP has been pointing investors toward an “integrated” vision—moving from mining/concentrate toward higher-value materials. In its third-quarter 2025 release, the company noted that its Materials segment revenue fell year-over-year, in part tied to a shift in sales mix, while NdPr oxide and metal sales benefited from higher volumes and prices. [9]
On the policy side, Reuters has reported that MP previously unveiled a multi-billion-dollar arrangement with the U.S. government aimed at boosting rare earth magnet supply—part of the broader effort to loosen China’s grip on materials used in defense systems, EVs, and electronics. [10]
One more “today” data point investors are also scanning: MarketBeat reported a sharp reduction in an institutional holder’s MP position and summarized recent insider selling activity over the past 90 days—information that can matter in a momentum-heavy tape. [11]
What it means for Dec. 18 trading: MP sits at the intersection of (a) export-control news from China, and (b) Washington’s willingness to subsidize, contract, or otherwise underwrite domestic capacity. When either side moves, MP tends to react first.
USA Rare Earth (USAR): Stillwater magnet ambitions and a clearer (but still long) timeline
If MP is the incumbent U.S. rare-earth name, USA Rare Earth has become the “new infrastructure” narrative: magnets and midstream capability on U.S. soil.
At midday, USAR traded near $13.46, slightly down on the day after bouncing between roughly $13.4 and $14.7.
A widely circulated analysis published Thursday emphasized three operational milestones investors have been anchoring to:
- Stillwater, Oklahoma: USAR plans to start producing magnets using non-China sources at its Stillwater facility. [12]
- Near-term buildout: The company’s CFO said it was on track to have key premanufacturing equipment installed by around the end of Q1 2026. [13]
- Round Top, Texas: USAR has pointed to development of its Round Top deposit, and the company has publicly discussed starting commercial production in late 2028, accelerated versus its prior timeline (the acceleration was also echoed in company-distributed release coverage earlier this month). [14]
The same Dec. 18 analysis also highlighted how USAR’s Less Common Metals acquisition (a UK-based rare earth metal and alloy manufacturer) is framed as “de-risking” Stillwater feedstock needs, specifically by reducing reliance on China-linked sourcing. [15]
What it means for Dec. 18 trading: USAR’s story is less about this quarter’s commodity pricing and more about whether the market believes a U.S.-based magnet supply chain will be financed and built on schedule. That makes China’s export-licence shift relevant—but mostly as a reminder of why USAR’s “non-China” pitch exists.
Energy Fuels (UUUU): a critical minerals crossover story, with valuation front and center today
Energy Fuels sits in a different bucket than the rare-earth pure-plays—more “critical minerals crossover” than magnet chain specialist. At midday it traded around $13.87, up nearly 3%.
But one of the most-read pieces circulating today wasn’t bullish on valuation. An Investing.com item published Dec. 18 pointed to a prior “Fair Value” warning (dated Oct. 15, 2025 in that analysis), arguing the stock had corrected sharply from a $24.99 level and describing a drop to about $13.47 as of Dec. 18. [16]
That same article cited negative fundamentals at the time of the warning (including negative EBITDA and negative EPS), and it claimed that insider selling and at least one downgrade contributed to the bear case. [17]
For rare-metals investors, the takeaway is simple: UUUU can move fast in both directions, and today’s news flow is as much about positioning and valuation as it is about the long-term critical-minerals thesis.
Beyond rare earths: antimony, gallium, germanium, and the “processing race”
A key evolution in the rare-metals trade in late 2025 has been the market’s focus shifting from “who has the rock” to “who can process it.”
One of the most consequential developments in that theme came earlier this week: the Financial Times reported U.S. backing for a $7.4 billion Korea Zinc investment aimed at building a critical minerals processing plant (involving a U.S. government-linked JV structure) to produce materials including antimony, germanium, and gallium, with operations expected later this decade. [18]
Those are not niche curiosities—they’re the kinds of metals that show up in semiconductors, defense systems, and advanced manufacturing, and they’re exactly the categories that tend to produce sharp equity moves when export controls change or when governments step in as financiers.
Perpetua Resources (PPTA): antimony exposure riding a permitting narrative
Perpetua traded around $26.50, up about 2.7% at midday.
In mining-industry coverage published today, The Northern Miner pointed to Perpetua’s Stibnite gold-antimony projectin Idaho and described its permitting earlier this year as a signal that major U.S. mine permits can still get done—while noting permitting remains a hurdle across the sector. [19]
For investors, PPTA’s appeal is often framed as a two-factor bet: gold economics plus strategic antimony, with the latter increasingly tied to U.S. supply-chain concerns.
Small-cap rare metals headlines today: tungsten explorers add fresh drill results
While rare earths and lithium dominate mainstream coverage, tungsten and other “hard-to-substitute” metals have been returning to the radar—especially in defense and aerospace contexts.
A National Defense Magazine analysis published Dec. 18 described efforts by mining companies to challenge China’s position in tungsten and highlighted the broader political urgency around critical minerals supply. [20]
Two tungsten-related announcements dated today also drew attention in the small-cap space:
- American Tungsten (OTCQB: TUNGF) reported visible tungsten mineralization (hubnerite/scheelite) in an initial drillhole at its IMA Mine project, with assays pending and Phase 1 work targeting multiple vein systems into early 2026. [21]
- Spartan Metals (OTCQB: SPRMF) published drilling assay results from its Tungstonia tailings work in Nevada, highlighting tungsten grades alongside silver and rubidium values across a tight-spaced program. [22]
Reality check for readers: early-stage drill headlines can move thinly traded stocks sharply, and they carry outsized financing and execution risk compared with larger-cap producers.
Lithium’s shadow over “rare metals”: prices jump in China, U.S. equities stay reactive
Even though lithium isn’t a “rare earth,” it remains central to the strategic metals narrative because of batteries and grid storage.
Reuters reported that China’s lithium carbonate futures spiked this week after local authorities in a major lithium hub said they planned to revoke a set of mining licences—while analysts cautioned the move was unlikely to change current supply because the permits were expired and generally not tied to operating mines. [23]
In U.S. trading today, lithium bellwethers were split at midday:
- Albemarle (ALB): up about 2.2%
- Lithium Americas (LAC): down about 1.8%
Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal piece published today described 2025 as a surprisingly strong year for “green stocks,” specifically naming Albemarle among major gainers even amid policy headwinds—an example of how quickly sentiment can rotate back into supply-chain-linked materials when power demand and electrification themes reassert themselves. [24]
The rare metals outlook investors are pricing right now
As of midday on Dec. 18, the rare-metals trade is being driven less by a single commodity price and more by a stack of catalysts that keep colliding:
- China export regime clarity (or lack of it): General licences may speed shipments, but investors will be watching for details on duration, compliance burden, and which downstream sectors actually benefit. [25]
- U.S. industrial policy momentum: Processing plants, financing structures, and supply-chain deals are increasingly shaping which projects get built (and which don’t). [26]
- Company execution milestones: For USAR, the market is focused on Stillwater’s buildout and the timeline toward production; for MP, the focus is on scaling higher-value capacity and policy-linked offtake structures. [27]
- Valuation discipline in high-volatility names: As today’s Energy Fuels debate shows, sharp rallies can invite sharp corrections when fundamentals and price diverge. [28]
- Macro tailwinds/headwinds: Softer inflation data helped sentiment broadly today, but rate expectations and global growth still matter for metals demand and risk appetite. [29]
Bottom line at noon ET
Rare metals stocks are trading like what they are: strategic assets wrapped in volatility. Today’s China export-licence development may ease the plumbing for some buyers, but it also reinforces the central investing premise that has powered the sector in 2025—control of critical minerals is now a policy variable, not just a market variable. [30]
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.ft.com, 9. investors.mpmaterials.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.marketbeat.com, 12. www.fool.com, 13. www.fool.com, 14. www.fool.com, 15. www.fool.com, 16. uk.investing.com, 17. uk.investing.com, 18. www.ft.com, 19. www.northernminer.com, 20. www.nationaldefensemagazine.org, 21. investornews.com, 22. investingnews.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.wsj.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.ft.com, 27. www.fool.com, 28. uk.investing.com, 29. www.reuters.com, 30. www.reuters.com
