Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) stock rallied as much as 24% early Monday morning after the company announced it would redouble efforts related to mining for rare earth minerals, which has become one of the hottest commodities trades on Wall Street this year.
“Beyond steelmaking, the renewed importance of rare earths has driven us to re-focus on this potential opportunity at our upstream mining assets,” CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in the company’s earnings release.
“We have looked at all of our ore bodies and tailings basins, and two sites in particular, one in Michigan and one in Minnesota, show the most potential. At these two sites, geological surveys show key indicators of rare-earth mineralization. If successful, it would align Cleveland-Cliffs with the broader national strategy for critical material independence, similar to what we achieved in steel.”
Ohio-based Cleveland Cliffs, long dominant in the US steel industry, operates a fully vertically integrated iron and steel supply chain, mining iron ore out of the ground, refining and processing it into steel, and then selling that steel and a collection of downstream products to other customers.
The company on Monday reported revenue of $4.7 billion in the third quarter on steel shipments of 4 million net tons. Adjusted net losses tallied $0.45 in the quarter.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ comments come as rare earths — critical throughout industries including weapons manufacturing, batteries, and EV development — have become the focal point of a tit-for-tat escalation of trade maneuvers between Washington and Beijing.
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After China unveiled a sweeping series of new export controls that curtailed shipments of products with even trace amounts of a group of rare metals, President Trump threatened 100% tariffs on all Chinese goods before rolling that threat back.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US and China will hold talks later this week in Malaysia. But Washington has a long road to matching Beijing’s dominance of the rare earths supply.
China currently controls 70% of mining capacity, 90% of separation capacity, and 93% of oxide and magnate production for rare earth minerals and metals worldwide.
As Cleveland-Cliffs’ Goncalves said: “American manufacturing shouldn’t rely on China or any foreign nation for essential minerals, and Cliffs intends to be part of the solution.”
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As part of the administration’s efforts to gain ground on China, the White House and Department of Defense have throughout the year invested in a host of mining companies, including MP Materials (MP), which operates the only operational rare earth mine in the US, Trilogy Metals (TMQ), and Lithium Americas (LAC).
