Al Root

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting the "inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial" in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

The idea is to ensure the stability and supply of critical minerals, materials important to running a modern economy, including rare earths, lithium, copper, and others.

It's good news, but critical mineral stocks are tanking. It appears the government alone can't push stock prices higher anymore.

Vice President JD Vance opened the meeting, noting that consistent investment in critical mineral industries is "nearly impossible" with erratic pricing, driven by foreign supplies flooding markets before new projects can get off the ground.

Part of the plan is to create "concrete" mechanisms to ensure predatory pricing can't happen, including enforceable price floors and reference prices.

That should be news for the industry. Still, shares of MP Materials, the largest rare earth miner in the Western Hemisphere, were down 6.5% in early trading. Shares of aspiring rare earth miners USA Rare Earth and Ramaco Resources were off 12.1% and 3.8%, respectively. Shares of Critical Minerals and seabed miner The Metals Company were down 11.1% and 6.5%, respectively. Lithium Americas' stock was down 6.6%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3%.

It's possible that investors are worried about more competition as the U.S. government makes it easier to fund mining projects. That doesn't seem like a big concern, however. MP, for instance, plans to have roughly 10,000 tons of rare earth magnet capacity in place by the end of the decade. That would address only about 20% of total U.S. demand today, according to Canaccord analyst George Gianarikas. And demand is growing.

The biggest problem might be the starting point. Coming into Wednesday trading, those six stocks were up an average of 151% over the past 12 months. A lot of good news is reflected in the shares, and nothing new was discussed.

News of trade agreements, strategic stockpiles, price floors, and government equity investments has all driven shares in recent months.

For investors, the reaction could mean that policy just won't drive shares anymore. Policy is as good as it can get. Now, investors will have to focus on each company and their ability to execute on mining plans.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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February 04, 2026 11:33 ET (16:33 GMT)

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