MP Materials Corp. (MP) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello all, and a warm welcome to the MP Materials Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. My name is Lydia, and I'm your operator today. (Operator Instructions) It's my pleasure to now hand you over to our host, Martin Sheehan, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead when you're ready.

各位好，熱烈歡迎參加 MP Materials 2021 年第三季財報電話會議。我是 Lydia，今天由我擔任接線員。（接線員指示）我很高興現在把電話交給我們的主持人——投資人關係主管 Martin Sheehan。您準備好時請開始。

Thank you, operator, and good day, everyone. Welcome to MP Materials Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. With me today are Jim Litinsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MP Materials; Michael Rosenthal, Chief Operating Officer; and Ryan Corbett, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，大家好。歡迎參加 MP Materials 2021 年第三季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有：MP Materials 董事長兼執行長 Jim Litinsky；營運長 Michael Rosenthal；以及財務長 Ryan Corbett。

Before we get to Jim's and Ryan's opening remarks, I'd like to remind you that during today's call, we will make certain forward-looking statements that do not constitute historical facts under the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在進入 Jim 與 Ryan 的開場致詞之前，我想提醒各位，在今天的電話會議中，我們將根據 1995 年《美國私人證券訴訟改革法》之安全港條款，作出若干不構成歷史事實的前瞻性陳述。

Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions, and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this communication.

前瞻性陳述是基於目前的預期與假設，對未來事件所作的預測、推估及其他陳述，因此存在風險與不確定性。許多因素可能導致本次溝通中的前瞻性陳述與實際未來事件出現重大差異。

For more information about factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from forward-looking statements, please refer to the cautionary language in the earnings release and in our filings with the SEC, including the Risk Factors section in our recent SEC filings.

如需了解可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述出現重大差異的因素，請參閱財報新聞稿及我們向 SEC 提交之文件中的警示性文字，包括我們近期 SEC 申報文件中的「風險因素」章節。

During the call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe to be useful in evaluating MP Materials operating performance. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for MP Materials financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in our current report on Form 8-K filed today and can be found on our website, investors.materials.com.

在本次電話會議中，管理團隊也將討論若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，我們認為這些指標有助於評估 MP Materials 的營運表現。這些指標不應被單獨看待，亦不應作為依 GAAP 編製之 MP Materials 財務結果的替代。這些指標與最直接可比之 GAAP 指標的調節表，已載於我們今日提交的 Form 8-K 當期報告中，亦可於我們的網站 investors.materials.com 查閱。

And please check our investor website regularly and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, where we often provide news and information on the company. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Jim?

也請定期瀏覽我們的投資人網站，並在 Twitter、Instagram 與 LinkedIn 上追蹤我們；我們經常在這些平台發布公司新聞與資訊。接下來我把電話交給 Jim。Jim？

Thanks, Martin, and thank you to everyone joining us on the call this afternoon. Let me run down what we will cover on the call today. First, I will recap the highlights of another outstanding quarter. Second, Ryan will provide color on our operational results and financial performance. Third, I will provide an update on our Stage 2 and Stage 3 progress.

謝謝 Martin，也感謝今天下午加入電話會議的各位。我先簡要說明今天會議的內容。第一，我將回顧本季再度創下佳績的重點。第二，Ryan 將就我們的營運成果與財務表現提供更多說明。第三，我將更新我們在第二階段（Stage 2）與第三階段（Stage 3）的進展。

Finally, I will share my views on recent market trends and some other thoughts. After wrapping up the prepared remarks, we will open it up for Q&A. But let's start with the third quarter highlights on Slide 4.

最後，我會分享我對近期市場趨勢的看法以及其他一些想法。完成事先準備的發言後，我們將開放問答。現在先從投影片 4 的第三季重點開始。

The MP team continues to perform above and beyond even our own high expectations, again, setting new records for production and sales volumes. Across the board, every department continues to improve processes and overall execution, which, when combined with select equipment upgrades, is driving higher utilization of our assets and higher production volumes.

MP 團隊持續展現超越我們自身高標準的表現，再次在產量與銷售量上創下新紀錄。各部門全面持續改善流程與整體執行力，並結合部分設備升級，正推動我們資產更高的利用率與更高的產量。

These factors have produced a meaningful increase in our total output for the quarter. I would also add that we produced more REO in just this quarter than our predecessor produced in its best year ever. Let me repeat that. MP Materials produced more REO in just this quarter than the predecessor entity did in their best year ever. This stat is just really incredible, and it is also particularly remarkable when we think about all the operational, logistical, and labor challenges going on related to COVID. I am so proud of our team.

這些因素使我們本季總產出顯著提升。我也要補充一點：我們僅在本季所生產的 REO，就超過前身公司在其歷史最佳年度的 REO 產量。我再重申一次：MP Materials 僅在本季所生產的 REO，就超過前身實體在其歷史最佳年度的產量。這個數字真的非常驚人；尤其在 COVID 相關的營運、物流與人力挑戰仍在發生的情況下，更顯得格外難得。我為我們的團隊感到非常自豪。

I would also like to give a special thanks to our logistics team. Despite significant shipping and trucking challenges throughout the economy, we shipped over 12,000 metric tons of REO in the quarter. This represents a 30% increase over Q2. The ingenuity and dedication of the MP team is just awesome.

我也要特別感謝我們的物流團隊。儘管整體經濟面臨嚴峻的航運與卡車運輸挑戰，我們本季仍出貨超過 12,000 公噸的 REO，較第二季增加 30%。MP 團隊的創意與投入真的非常出色。

And we've said this before, we are selling everything we can produce. Strong global demand for Rare Earth materials resulted in a 127% year-over-year increase in realized prices. This is being driven primarily by NDPR as well as other magnetic rares contained in our concentrate. The combination of higher volumes and higher pricing led to revenues more than doubling year-over-year to $99.8 million.

而且我們之前也說過：我們能生產多少就賣多少。全球對稀土材料的強勁需求，使實現價格年增 127%。這主要由 NDPR 以及我們精礦中所含的其他磁性稀土所帶動。更高的銷量與更高的價格相結合，使營收年增逾一倍，達到 9,980 萬美元。

The strong pricing, combined with continued diligent cost management helped to demonstrate the leverage in our operating model with adjusted EBITDA increasing nearly 6x year-over-year to $68.3 million. And along with this performance, we delivered operational efficiency improvements as our unit production costs declined nearly 6% from the second quarter of 2021.

強勁的價格，加上持續嚴謹的成本管理，協助展現我們營運模式的槓桿效應：調整後 EBITDA 年增近 6 倍，達到 6,830 萬美元。伴隨這樣的表現，我們也交出營運效率改善的成果，因為單位生產成本較 2021 年第二季下降近 6%。

The improved financial performance is also naturally increasing our cash generated from operations. We generate a significant amount of cash from our operations, and we have a fortress balance sheet. This positions MP to continue to invest in our Stage 2 and stage 3 opportunities while maintaining substantial firepower to pursue high ROIC opportunities within our mission and over time, reward shareholders.

財務表現的改善也自然帶動我們營運所產生的現金增加。我們的營運能產生可觀的現金，而且我們擁有堅實如堡壘的資產負債表。這使 MP 能在維持充足火力的同時，持續投資於 Stage 2 與 Stage 3 的機會，並在符合我們使命的範圍內追求高 ROIC 的機會，並在長期回饋股東。

The Stage 2 optimization project continues to progress at a healthy pace. We continue to manage through many of the challenges we face. MP has an execution focused owner-operator culture. We understand the importance of stage 2 to our overall mission, and we remain focused. And again, our strong Stage 1 production achievements further support our Stage 2 volume outlook for 2023 of 6,075 metric tons of NDPR production.

Stage 2 最佳化專案持續以健康的速度推進。我們持續管理並克服所面臨的多項挑戰。MP 擁有以執行為導向的業主—營運者文化。我們了解 Stage 2 對整體使命的重要性，並將持續專注。此外，我們在 Stage 1 的強勁產量成果，也進一步支持我們對 2023 年 Stage 2 產量展望：NDPR 產量 6,075 公噸。

Lastly, just quickly on Stage 3. We look forward to sharing more on the vision for our first rare earth metal and magnet facility and the progress we are making towards the end of the year. More on Stage 2 and Stage 3 in a bit. But for now, let me turn it over to Ryan for more details on our quarter.

最後，簡要談一下 Stage 3。我們期待在今年年底前，分享更多關於我們第一座稀土金屬與磁材工廠的願景，以及我們所取得的進展。稍後我會再談 Stage 2 與 Stage 3。現在先把電話交給 Ryan，請他就本季表現提供更多細節。

Thank you, Jim, and welcome, everyone. I'll be beginning on Slide 6 and starting in the bottom left-hand corner. As Jim mentioned, production volumes hit record highs in the quarter as we produced just under 12,000 metric tons of contained rare earth oxides. This was an 18% increase over last year's production and a 16% increase off of Q2's production, a meaningful increase, particularly since you will recall that Q2 was the previous record for the company.

謝謝你，Jim，也歡迎各位。我將從投影片 6 開始，先看左下角。如 Jim 所提到，本季產量創下新高，我們生產了接近 12,000 公噸的含稀土氧化物（contained rare earth oxides）。這較去年產量增加 18%，較第二季增加 16%，增幅相當可觀，尤其各位會記得第二季原本就是公司先前的紀錄高點。

As Jim also mentioned, every department is making improvements in their processes and procedures, which are adding up to improved production results. Our mining team is ensuring consistent ore availability in feed grade to the mill while supporting higher feed rates. Our maintenance staff is ensuring record uptimes by staying ahead of wear trends and implementing strategic equipment upgrades.

如 Jim 也提到的，各部門都在改善其流程與作業程序，累積起來帶動產量成果提升。我們的採礦團隊確保磨礦廠所需的入料品位有穩定的礦石供應，同時支援更高的進料速率。我們的維修團隊則透過提前掌握磨耗趨勢並推動策略性設備升級，確保設備運轉時間（uptime）創下新高。

In the face of an extremely challenging supply chain environment, our procurement and logistics teams are ensuring we have the necessary consumables and repair parts in a timely manner as well as supporting the outbound logistics needs of record production volumes.

在極具挑戰的供應鏈環境下，我們的採購與物流團隊確保必要的耗材與維修零件能及時到位，同時也支援創紀錄產量所需的對外出貨物流需求。

Our operations and engineering teams continue to improve our processes and their execution, leading to steady and sustainable increases in production. And our safety and training teams are ensuring improved employee safety and environmental compliance and employee productivity and that lessons are passed from crew to crew and shift to shift. These individual modest improvements are compounding into meaningful results.

我們的營運與工程團隊持續改善流程與執行，帶來穩定且可持續的產量提升。而我們的安全與訓練團隊則確保員工安全與環境合規的改善、員工生產力提升，並確保經驗教訓能在不同班組與不同輪班之間傳承。這些個別看似不大的改善，正在疊加成為具意義的成果。

As we look at the improvements at a more macro level, we believe we are seeing steady and sustainable improvements on our flotation process with modestly improved recoveries as well as higher feed rates. Notably, our uptimes in the quarter were 98%, a new all-time quarterly high for the plant. This resulted in a 6.5% increase in hours of production versus last year and a nearly 8% increase versus the second quarter.

從更宏觀的角度來看這些改善，我們認為在浮選流程方面正看到穩定且可持續的進步：回收率略有提升，同時進料速率更高。值得注意的是，本季設備運轉時間達到 98%，創下工廠歷來單季新高。這使得生產時數較去年增加 6.5%，較第二季增加近 8%。

I'd note that the compares are partially flattered by our planned semiannual plant turnaround falling in Q2 and Q4 of this year versus falling in last year's third quarter. However, we were also pleased to have less unplanned downtime versus prior quarters. To control for the comparability between the quarters, we measure our efficiency in terms of rare earth oxide produced per uptime hour. And in the third quarter, we maintained the material improvement achieved last quarter and, in fact, continue to build on it, with a nearly 10% year-over-year increase in production per uptime hour.

我也要指出，這些比較數據部分受到影響，因為我們計畫性的半年一次工廠大修在今年落在第二季與第四季，而去年則落在第三季。不過，我們也很高興看到相較前幾季，非計畫性停機時間更少。為了控制季度間可比性，我們以每一小時運轉時間所生產的稀土氧化物來衡量效率。而在第三季，我們維持了上季所達成的重大改善，並且持續在此基礎上提升，達成每運轉小時產量年增近 10%。

As we look ahead to the fourth quarter, I want to reflag the timing of the plant turnaround I mentioned earlier, which impacts Q4's available production hours. And in addition, we generally lose a little bit of efficiency in those turnaround quarters.

展望第四季，我想再次提醒我先前提到的工廠歲修（turnaround）時程，這將影響第四季可用的生產工時。此外，在這些歲修季度，我們的效率通常也會略有下降。

But reflecting on the Q3 performance, I would note that we've always expected to make improvements in our production efficiency, but the team has executed well and ahead of plan. Moving clockwise on the page to our sales volumes, you can see the timing of shipments resulted in us selling through all of our production and then some. This resulted in a 36% increase in metric tons of REO shipped to over 12,800 metric tons, a 30% increase over the second quarter.

但回顧第三季的表現，我要指出，我們一向預期生產效率會改善，而團隊的執行不僅到位，且進度超前。接著順時針看向本頁的銷售量，你可以看到出貨時點使我們把所有產量都賣完，甚至超出。這使得REO出貨量（以公噸計）增加36%，超過12,800公噸，較第二季增加30%。

As you can imagine, given the stress on the logistics supply chain, this was a particularly heroic accomplishment. And as we often point out, shipping volumes and production volumes usually don't line up quarter-to-quarter, but over time, they even out. This quarter, the team was able to tackle the modest inventory that had built up over the last few quarters, but in the current environment, it's even harder to predict the exact timing of shipments.

如各位所能想像，在物流供應鏈承受壓力的情況下，這是一項特別英勇的成就。而且我們也常提到，出貨量與產量通常不會在每一季完全對齊，但隨著時間推移會趨於一致。本季團隊得以消化過去幾季累積的適度庫存，但在目前環境下，更難精準預測出貨的確切時點。

Moving on, as you can see in the top right, as Jim mentioned, our realized pricing remains very strong and grew 5% sequentially, driven by continued strength in NDPR prices. Finally, the very high uptimes, combined with effective cost controls resulted in a 6% decline in our production costs versus the second quarter and a 4% increase year-over-year, which, as a reminder, includes significant incremental costs from hiring ahead of Stage 2 recommissioning, where certain costs cannot be capitalized and are therefore included in our production cost metrics.

接著，如右上角所示，正如Jim提到的，我們的實現價格仍然非常強勁，並在NDPR價格持續走強的帶動下，較前一季成長5%。最後，極高的開機率（uptime）加上有效的成本控管，使我們的生產成本較第二季下降6%，並年增4%。提醒一下，這其中包含為第二階段（Stage 2）重新投產（recommissioning）提前招募所帶來的顯著增量成本；其中部分成本無法資本化，因此被納入我們的生產成本指標。

This impact is highlighted in the yellow bar in the graph to give a more apples-to-apples comparison, which would have resulted in a decline of about 3% year-over-year when excluding the approximately $100 per metric ton of REO of pre-commissioning expense.

為了更「同類比較」，圖表中的黃色長條突顯了這項影響；若排除每公噸REO約100美元的投產前（pre-commissioning）費用，年對年將約下降3%。

Looking forward to Q4, I would also remind everyone that my comments regarding the turnaround also manifesting unit production costs given the lower uptime and efficiency as well as the additional costs associated with the maintenance effort.

展望第四季，我也要提醒大家，我關於歲修的評論同樣會反映在單位生產成本上，因為開機率與效率較低，且維護作業也會帶來額外成本。

Let's move to Slide 7. I spent a lot of time on that last slide to highlight all the amazing things the team is doing. So I'll cut to the chase here. Revenues of nearly $100 million were up 143% year-over-year and 36% sequentially, driven by the simple p times QI highlighted on the prior slide. The revenue growth and solid cost containment resulted in EBITDA growing nearly sixfold to $68.3 million, which was 47% higher than the second quarter.

我們來看第7頁。我在上一頁花了不少時間，強調團隊正在做的所有令人驚豔的事情，所以這裡我就直奔重點。營收接近1億美元，年增143%、季增36%，主要來自我在上一頁強調的簡單「價格乘以數量」。營收成長與穩健的成本控管，使EBITDA成長近六倍至6,830萬美元，較第二季高出47%。

Adjusted EBITDA margins improved from 36% last year to 68% in the current quarter and improved over the 64% margin in Q2. You can also see the leverage in our model when you look at the incremental margin between Q2 and Q3. Specifically, adjusted EBITDA increased $21.9 million from 2Q to 3Q, while revenue increased $26.7 million. That's an incremental margin of 82%, an awesome result, given much of the growth was through volume, not price.

調整後EBITDA利潤率由去年同期的36%提升至本季的68%，也高於第二季的64%。當你看第二季到第三季之間的增量利潤率時，也能看到我們模型的槓桿效應。具體而言，調整後EBITDA從2Q到3Q增加2,190萬美元，而營收增加2,670萬美元；這代表增量利潤率為82%。在成長多數來自銷量而非價格的情況下，這是非常出色的成果。

As we typically see that EBITDA improvement flowed nicely to the bottom line as our adjusted net income grew over 7x versus last year to $52 million, which was also a 55% improvement over the second quarter. Before I move off of this slide, I want to point out a couple of housekeeping items.

如同我們通常看到的，EBITDA的改善也順利反映到最終獲利：調整後淨利較去年同期成長逾7倍至5,200萬美元，亦較第二季改善55%。在離開這頁之前，我想指出幾個例行事項。

You'll notice on our P&L in the press release and in the appendix of this deck that we've added a new operating cost line item, advanced projects, development, and other. These costs are incurred in connection with certain government contracts, the research and development of new processes or to significantly enhance our existing processes as well as costs incurred to support growth and development initiatives.

你會注意到，在新聞稿以及本簡報附錄中的損益表（P&L）裡，我們新增了一個營運成本科目：「先進專案、開發及其他」。這些成本與特定政府合約、新製程的研發、或對既有製程的重大提升相關，也包含為支持成長與開發計畫所產生的成本。

These dollars are relatively small now, but given our accelerating work with regards to metal alloy and magnet manufacturing, we thought it important to start breaking these costs out from G&A. And lastly, also on the P&L, as a reminder from last quarter, our diluted share count includes the full dilution impact of the roughly 15.6 million shares related to our green convertible bond as if the bond were converted into shares.

目前這些金額相對不大，但鑑於我們在金屬合金與磁鐵製造方面的工作正在加速，我們認為有必要開始將這些成本自一般與管理費用（G&A）中拆分出來。最後，同樣在損益表上，提醒各位延續上季的說明：我們的稀釋後股數包含約1,560萬股、與我們的綠色可轉換公司債相關的完整稀釋影響，假設該債券已轉換為股份。

This results in a GAAP weighted average share count of 193.2 million, which we used to calculate diluted EPS, again for the recent ASU requiring full if-converted treatment for convertible notes, regardless of whether they are in the money. As a reminder, the conversion price for the notes is a little over $44 a share. So excluding this impact, our adjusted fully diluted share count was 178.2 million shares as of September 30.

因此，GAAP加權平均股數為1.932億股，我們用以計算稀釋後每股盈餘（diluted EPS）。這同樣是因應近期ASU要求對可轉換票據採用完整「若已轉換」（if-converted）處理，不論是否處於價內。提醒一下，該票據的轉換價格略高於每股44美元。因此，排除此影響後，截至9月30日，我們調整後的完全稀釋股數為1.782億股。

I'll now move to Slide 8. Our normalized Stage 1 free cash flow remains extremely strong, driven by the financial results we just discussed. This chart is on a year-to-date basis. So starting with our reported free cash flow of negative $13.3 million and adjusting for our offtake paydown of $38.9 million, $80 million of growth CapEx and another $2.3 million of transaction and onetime items, results in a normalized Stage 1 free cash flow of over $107 million or a 46% margin on year-to-date revenues.

我現在轉到第8頁。我們經常態化（normalized）的第一階段（Stage 1）自由現金流仍然極為強勁，主要由我們剛討論的財務表現所驅動。此圖表以年初至今（year-to-date）為基礎。從我們報告的自由現金流為負1,330萬美元開始，調整加回包銷/承購（offtake）償還3,890萬美元、8,000萬美元的成長資本支出（growth CapEx），以及另外230萬美元的交易與一次性項目後，得到經常態化的第一階段自由現金流超過1.07億美元，約占年初至今營收的46%利潤率。

Keep in mind, the reason we adjust out our offtake pay down is that the offtake balance is essentially debt, but the impact of the paydown of that agreement runs through our operating cash flow instead of financing, as we've discussed in prior quarters. I would also point out that in the appendix, we have a detailed walk of how we get from our adjusted EBITDA to our reported operating cash flow and then our reported free cash flow.

請記住，我們之所以將offtake償還調整出去，是因為offtake餘額本質上屬於債務，但如同我們在前幾季討論過的，該協議的償還影響會流入營運現金流，而非籌資現金流。我也要指出，在附錄中，我們提供了詳細的銜接說明，展示如何從調整後EBITDA推導至報告的營運現金流，進而到報告的自由現金流。

On that slide, you will see some growth in working capital this quarter as a result of the large number of shipments taking place in late September due to the port congestion. We have since received the entirety of the cash from these lumpier receivables, which will show up in our fourth quarter free cash flow numbers.

在那一頁，你會看到本季營運資金有所增加，原因是9月下旬因港口壅塞而有大量出貨集中發生。我們之後已收到這些較為「不平均」（lumpier）的應收款項全部現金，將反映在第四季的自由現金流數字中。

Lastly, in the quarter, we paid down our offtake agreement with Shenghe Resources by an additional $16 million, leaving roughly $33 million remaining. At this pace, which would assume continued strong concentrate pricing as well as consistent production and shipping at Mountain Pass, we would expect to pay off the remaining amount in early 2022.

最後，在本季我們將與盛和資源（Shenghe Resources）的offtake協議再償還1,600萬美元，剩餘約3,300萬美元。以此速度（假設精礦價格持續強勁，且Mountain Pass維持穩定生產與出貨）來看，我們預期可在2022年初償清剩餘金額。

As a reminder, we are entitled to pay off the balance in full at any time with cash on hand, particularly as it is nearly a rounding error in the context of our $1.2 billion cash balance. We have not elected to do this as we continue to pay down the balance quite rapidly via the traditional offtake mechanism, and we also believe that maintaining a balance aligns the incentives of our distributor to maximize the company's profitability.

提醒一下，我們有權在任何時間以手上現金一次清償全部餘額，尤其相較於我們12億美元的現金餘額，這幾乎可視為四捨五入的誤差。我們尚未選擇這麼做，因為我們正透過傳統offtake機制相當快速地償還餘額；同時我們也認為，維持一定餘額有助於使我們的經銷商之誘因與公司獲利最大化保持一致。

I would also remind everyone that we have the flexibility to sell our product where we choose. And as you can imagine, given the rising demand for rare earth materials globally, customers and distributors regularly express interest in the company's current and future production of both concentrated oxides. With that, I'll turn it back to Jim to give you more details on Stage 2 and Stage 3.

我也要提醒大家，我們具備彈性，可選擇在我們想要的市場銷售產品。正如各位所能想像，鑑於全球對稀土材料的需求上升，客戶與經銷商經常表達對公司目前與未來兩種濃縮氧化物產量的興趣。接下來我把時間交還給Jim，請他提供更多關於第二階段（Stage 2）與第三階段（Stage 3）的細節。

Thanks, Ryan. Before I start on Slide 10, I wanted to point out that we added a section of cool photos towards the back of the deck, which shows some of the ongoing progress at Mountain Pass. So please take some time to have a look.

謝謝，Ryan。在我開始第10頁之前，我想先指出，我們在簡報後段新增了一個很棒的照片區，展示Mountain Pass正在進行的一些進展。所以請大家撥空看一看。

As I mentioned in my opening, Stage 2 and related work continued to make nice progress. Although not specifically related to Stage 2, we had a very successful first firing of both of our combined heat and power or CHP turbines in the quarter and have now begun continuous performance testing.

如我在開場所提到的，第二階段（Stage 2）及相關工作持續取得良好進展。雖然不完全屬於第二階段的範疇，但我們在本季成功完成兩部熱電共生（combined heat and power，或CHP）渦輪機的首次點火，並已開始進行連續性能測試。

These turbines each generate north of 12 megawatts of power and recommissioning this facility is important for a couple of reasons. Stage 2 will require significantly more power than Stage 1. So having a dedicated power source fed by a pipeline lateral should further improve the reliability of our processes.

這些渦輪機每一部的發電量都超過12百萬瓦（12 megawatts），而重新投產這項設施之所以重要，有幾個原因。第二階段所需電力將遠高於第一階段。因此，擁有由支線管線（pipeline lateral）供氣的專用電力來源，應可進一步提升我們製程的可靠性。

Second, we believe the CHP could cut our energy cost significantly and will provide us excess steam for our processes, which we would otherwise have to consume energy to generate. Importantly, we expect the plant to come online on a full-time basis by early next year.

第二，我們相信 CHP 可大幅降低我們的能源成本，並為我們的製程提供多餘蒸汽；否則我們將必須消耗能源自行產生蒸汽。重要的是，我們預期該電廠將於明年年初以前以全時運轉方式上線。

Also in the quarter, we recommissioned our water treatment plant, and for the last 2 months have been producing on spec reverse osmosis or ROR. This is also critical for Stage 2. As you can imagine, to attain the purity levels needed to produce on spec NDPR and other separated rare earths, we need to use highly purified water. So this is another important milestone to achieve ahead of Stage 2 commissioning. We will also use this water in the CHP plant as well as to assist on a limited basis with our Stage 1 processes.

此外，在本季度我們重新啟用水處理廠，並在過去 2 個月以來生產符合規格的逆滲透水（reverse osmosis）或 ROR。這對第二階段同樣至關重要。可想而知，為了達到生產符合規格的 NDPR 與其他分離稀土所需的純度水準，我們必須使用高度純化的水。因此，這也是在第二階段試車投產前必須達成的另一項重要里程碑。我們也將在 CHP 電廠使用這些水，並在有限範圍內協助第一階段製程。

Specifically related to Stage 2. We have finalized most of the remaining process design decisions and have ordered most of the ancillary processing equipment with all deliveries currently expected within our needed time frames despite the supply chain challenges. We have now extended construction to 8 work sites, including new concentrate drying and [calcining] circuits, leach circuit optimizations, and NDPR finishing upgrades.

就第二階段而言，我們已完成大部分剩餘的製程設計決策，並已訂購大多數輔助製程設備；儘管供應鏈面臨挑戰，目前所有交付仍預期可在我們所需的時間範圍內到位。我們現已將施工擴展至 8 個工區，包括新的精礦乾燥與[煅燒]迴路、浸出迴路最佳化，以及 NDPR 精製升級。

Also, we have enhanced our efforts in coordination with the County Permit authority to accelerate construction permit reviews to help us with schedule. We continue to invest in developing heavy rare earth separation capability, which we believe is an exciting commercial opportunity. This capability is consistent with our mission to restore the full supply chain and move downstream into magnetics.

此外，我們也加強與郡（County）許可主管機關的協調，推動加速施工許可審查，以協助我們掌握時程。我們持續投資於重稀土分離能力的開發，我們認為這是一項令人振奮的商業機會。此能力與我們恢復完整供應鏈、並向下游磁材領域延伸的使命一致。

Process development and pilot activities are proceeding, and certain early site work is being evaluated. I look forward to providing more detail on our heavy rare earth separation activity in the near future.

製程開發與試驗（pilot）活動正在推進，並且正在評估某些早期場址工程。我期待在不久的將來就我們的重稀土分離活動提供更多細節。

Similar to heavy rare earth separation, we believe magnet recycling will be an on mission accretive opportunity for the business. A recycling capability should be a nice complement to the economics of Stage 3 magnet production. To that end, we are dedicating resources to advancing this capability, including ongoing joint development projects with significant industry and governmental entities.

與重稀土分離類似，我們相信磁體回收將是符合使命且能為公司帶來增益（accretive）的機會。回收能力應可與第三階段磁體生產的經濟性形成良好互補。為此，我們正投入資源推進此能力，包括與重要產業與政府機構進行中的聯合開發專案。

We believe MP is naturally positioned to be a global leader in rare earth magnet recycling in time and look forward to providing more detail in the future.

我們相信，隨著時間推進，MP 自然具備成為全球稀土磁體回收領導者的條件，並期待未來提供更多細節。

Before moving on to our stage 3 update, I wanted to remind everyone of the discussion we had last quarter. As you know, a day doesn't seem to go by without a new story discussing the various supply chain, labor, logistics and/or materials challenges happening throughout the global economy. Like others, we are managing in real-time the cost, schedule and other inflationary impacts that are out there. We wish we could be precise around known unknowns and unknown unknowns, but that is not possible.

在進入第三階段更新之前，我想提醒各位我們上季的討論。如各位所知，幾乎每天都會出現新的報導，談論全球經濟中各種供應鏈、勞動力、物流及／或材料方面的挑戰。與其他公司一樣，我們正即時管理外部存在的成本、時程及其他通膨影響。我們希望能對已知的未知與未知的未知做出精確判斷，但這是不可能的。

What we can tell you, though, is what matters to us all as shareholders, and that is the great news. We believe any incremental costs pale in comparison to the operating cash flow we are generating. And moreover, we continue to see what feels like a dramatic acceleration of the long-term asset value of what we already have in place as well as that of what we are continuing to create at MP.

不過，我們可以告訴各位的是，作為股東我們共同關心的重點，以及其中的好消息。我們相信，任何增量成本與我們正在產生的營運現金流相比都相形見絀。此外，我們持續看到一種近乎戲劇性的加速：我們既有資產的長期資產價值，以及我們在 MP 持續打造的資產價值，都在提升。

Moving on to Stage 3. We continue to build out our team, develop our production and market strategy, and engage with a wide array of customers. We remain on track and are incredibly excited to share the vision of our first U.S. metal and magnetics facility towards year-end.

接著談第三階段。我們持續擴充團隊、制定生產與市場策略，並與廣泛的客戶群互動。我們仍按計畫推進，並非常期待在年底前分享我們第一座美國金屬與磁材（magnetics）設施的願景。

With that, I'd like to shift gears before Q&A to share some market updates and other thoughts. So I know I covered the general global impacts around non-transitory supply chain issues already, but it is especially worth highlighting that these concepts of resiliency and reshoring have an added urgency when it comes to electrification.

在此，我想在問答之前轉換一下話題，分享一些市場最新動態與其他想法。我知道我已談過非短暫性供應鏈問題對全球的整體影響，但特別值得強調的是，當涉及電氣化（electrification）時，「韌性」與「回流本土（reshoring）」這些概念更具迫切性。

For the month of September, battery EV sales penetration in the U.S. exploded to 5.2% versus 2.5% a year ago. It was 15.1% and 17.4% in Europe and China, respectively, versus 7.4% and 5.3%, respectively, a year ago. Rather than list them, I would just say, pick your favorite U.S., European and/or Asian OEM or industrial supplier, and it was likely they were part of some kind of announcement around investment or planning for electrification in recent months.

以 9 月為例，美國電池電動車（battery EV）銷售滲透率激增至 5.2%，高於一年前的 2.5%。歐洲與中國分別為 15.1% 與 17.4%，高於一年前分別的 7.4% 與 5.3%。與其逐一列舉，我只想說，挑選你最喜歡的美國、歐洲及／或亞洲 OEM 或工業供應商，他們很可能在近幾個月都參與了某種與電氣化投資或規劃相關的公告。

Trillions of GDP are in play just in electrification. The supply chain is existential. As I have said before, the semiconductor issue was the ghost of Christmas future. With respect to the rare earth magnet supply chain specifically, there were also 2 major developments worth noting.

僅在電氣化領域，就牽動數兆美元的 GDP。供應鏈攸關存亡。正如我之前所說，半導體問題就是「未來聖誕幽靈」。就稀土磁體供應鏈而言，還有兩項重大發展值得注意。

China initiated a process to consolidate their 6 super major rare earth producers into just 2 companies. We believe this is very bullish for rare earth prices and, of course, highlights the increasing importance of MP's mission.

中國啟動程序，將其 6 家超大型稀土生產商整併為僅 2 家公司。我們認為這對稀土價格非常利多（bullish），當然也凸顯了 MP 使命日益重要。

The U.S. Department of Commerce also initiated a Section 232 investigation into the imports of permanent magnets, nearly all of which currently come from China. Lastly, I would like to take a moment to reflect on MP, how we began, what we've been through and where we believe we are going. I hope it will help you better understand our business, our culture, the risks we have taken on, the opportunity for shareholders, and most importantly, why we must succeed.

美國商務部也啟動了針對永磁體進口的《232 條款》（Section 232）調查，而目前幾乎所有永磁體都來自中國。最後，我想花點時間回顧 MP：我們如何開始、經歷了什麼，以及我們相信將走向何處。我希望這能幫助各位更了解我們的業務、文化、我們承擔的風險、股東的機會，以及最重要的——為什麼我們必須成功。

We founded this company in 2017. At the time, Mountain Pass was sitting in bankruptcy in care and maintenance with 8 employees. The predecessor failure to achieve operational stability led many to conclude incorrectly that Mountain Pass was a busted site. We, however, had conviction in where Mountain Pass should sit on the cost curve and had to fight for the opportunity to prove it.

我們於 2017 年創立這家公司。當時，Mountain Pass 正處於破產狀態，進入維護與保養（care and maintenance），僅有 8 名員工。前任經營未能達成營運穩定，導致許多人錯誤地認為 Mountain Pass 是一個失敗的場址。然而，我們對 Mountain Pass 在成本曲線上應有的位置深具信念，並且必須爭取機會來證明這一點。

We contributed capital just to keep the process going before closing on the acquisition as the key bankruptcy parties pushed furiously to push Mountain pass into reclamation. This means that an invaluable American industrial site would have been destroyed and the permits lost.

在完成收購交割之前，我們投入資本只是為了讓流程得以持續，因為破產案的關鍵相關方正猛烈推動要將 Mountain Pass 進入復墾（reclamation）。這意味著一個無價的美國工業場址將被摧毀，相關許可也將失效。

With limited resources amidst a bankruptcy battle where we were outgunned, we went to the United States government and shared our detailed plan to rescue, restore and ultimately return Mountain Pass to its rightful place of leadership in the global rare earth industry. We believed we could make Mountain Pass the foundation of a true western champion of the rare earth supply chain.

在資源有限、且我們在破產攻防中處於劣勢的情況下，我們前往美國政府，分享我們拯救、修復並最終讓 Mountain Pass 回到其在全球稀土產業中應有領導地位的詳細計畫。我們相信，我們能讓 Mountain Pass 成為真正西方稀土供應鏈冠軍的基石。

We knew it would be hard, complex, and nuanced, but we believed our success was critical for economic and national security. We could also see the world changing in a way that meant this was an opportunity of enormous long-term scale. The government seemed skeptical at first, but grateful we were willing to try. We did not view ourselves as any kind of heroes. We were just the only ones willing to take a chance. We were the only ones willing to take the great financial and personal risk and to put in the sweat that would be required to see this thing through. And we were the only ones who fundamentally saw what we saw in Mountain Pass, an irreplaceable strategic asset of enormous and growing consequence, not only to America, but to the entire Western hemisphere.

我們知道這將很困難、複雜且需要細膩處理，但我們相信我們的成功對經濟與國家安全至關重要。我們也看見世界正在改變，這代表著一個規模極其龐大的長期機會。政府起初似乎抱持懷疑，但也感謝我們願意嘗試。我們不把自己視為任何形式的英雄；我們只是唯一願意冒險的人。我們是唯一願意承擔巨大的財務與個人風險、並投入必要汗水把事情做到底的人。而且，我們是唯一從根本上看見 Mountain Pass 真正價值的人——一項不可替代、戰略性資產，其重要性不僅對美國，對整個西半球都極其重大且持續上升。

And so there we went, hire by hire, rock by rock, and most certainly, set back by setback, we began a great American comeback story. MT is now 365 and growing diverse Americans getting the job done. If you annualize today's reported quarter, we're doing north of $270 million per year of run rate adjusted EBITDA. We also have $1.2 billion in cash, and our mission continues.

於是我們就這樣開始了：一個人一個人地招募、一塊岩石一塊岩石地推進，而且毫無疑問地，一次挫折接著一次挫折，我們展開了一段偉大的美國復興故事。MP 現在有 365 名且持續成長的多元美國員工把工作完成。若將本季公布的數字年化，我們的調整後 EBITDA 年度運行率（run rate）超過 2.7 億美元。我們也擁有 12 億美元現金，而我們的使命仍在延續。

Yet no matter how big our team gets, fighting long odds against conventional wisdom is our corporate DNA. Every step of the way we have had naysayers, detractors, and worse. Our critics do have one thing right, though. What MP is trying to accomplish is complex, challenging, and painstaking. We have been crystal clear since day 1 that moving a multibillion-dollar supply chain will not happen overnight. We must be pragmatic, we must be methodical, and we must continuously learn from our inevitable mistakes and be relentless.

然而，不論團隊規模變得多大，對抗勝算渺茫、挑戰傳統觀點，都是我們的企業 DNA。一路走來，我們一直有唱衰者、反對者，甚至更糟的人。不過，我們的批評者有一點說對了：MP 想要完成的事確實複雜、具挑戰性且需要極大的耐心。自第一天起，我們就非常清楚地表示，移動一條數十億美元規模的供應鏈不可能一蹴可幾。我們必須務實、必須有條不紊，並且必須從不可避免的錯誤中持續學習、保持不懈。

Many of you have heard me say this, but I must say it again. We believe MP's success is critical, and we are proud to represent a symbol of America's renewed, reinvigorated manufacturing spirit as electrification transforms the global economy. We will be unwavering until it is done. With that, let's open it up for questions. Operator?

你們很多人都聽我說過這句話，但我必須再說一次。我們相信 MP 的成功至關重要；當電氣化改變全球經濟之際，我們也以能代表美國重新振作、再度充滿活力的製造精神之象徵為榮。我們將堅定不移，直到完成為止。那麼，現在開放提問。接線員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Carlos De Alba of Morgan Stanley.

（接線員指示）我們今天的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）的 Carlos De Alba。

Sorry, I was on mute. A very good quarter. So if I may, first question would be on fourth quarter output. Is there anything that you can comment, given the planned maintenance that you will have or you had already? How much of a reduction maybe we should expect in the quarter?

抱歉，我剛剛在靜音。一個非常好的季度。所以如果可以的話，第一個問題想問第四季的產量。考量你們將進行或已經進行的計畫性維護，你們有沒有什麼可以評論的？本季我們大概應該預期會減少多少？

Thanks, Carlos. Ryan, why don't you take that one?

謝謝你，Carlos。Ryan，要不你來回答這題？

Sure. Happy to. Carlos, this is Ryan. We tend not to give specific quarterly guidance, but what I would say is Q2 was another quarter with a plant to turn around. And so that's probably closer to what we would be aiming for, for Q4.

當然，很樂意。Carlos，我是 Ryan。我們通常不提供具體的單季指引，但我想說的是，第二季也是有工廠進行歲修（turnaround）的一季。所以第四季我們大概會以那樣的情況作為更接近的目標。

All right. That makes sense, Ryan. Then the impact of the Stage 2 hiring ahead on your cost. Is this something that should continue to expand as you get ready to launch that project? Or do you think it's going to be more stable at current levels?

好，了解了，Ryan。那麼，關於第二階段（Stage 2）提前招募人員對你們成本的影響。隨著你們準備啟動該專案，這部分是否會持續擴大？還是你們認為會在目前水準附近更為穩定？

Yes. I'm happy to start and then Jim, if you have anything to add. What we've seen over the last couple of quarters, and you can see this in the presentation in our materials is it's been relatively steady. And I would expect that likely to be the case over the next quarter or 2.

是的。我先回答，然後 Jim 如果有要補充也請加入。我們在過去幾個季度看到的情況——你也可以在我們簡報資料中看到——是相對穩定的。我預期接下來一到兩個季度大概率也會是如此。

But we've been pretty clear that 2022 is a transition year. And so as we get closer to first oxide, I would expect certainly hiring as well as several other costs to start to pick up ahead of revenue from oxide sales. So that is something to think about as you guys work on your quarterly models for 2022. I don't know, Jim, if you have anything else to add on that?

不過我們也很清楚地說過，2022 年是過渡年。因此，隨著我們更接近首次氧化物（first oxide），我預期在人員招募以及其他幾項成本上，會在氧化物銷售帶來營收之前開始上升。你們在做 2022 年的季度模型時，這點值得納入考量。Jim，你對這點還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I mean I would just say, Carlos, you can see -- you probably understand this. Hopefully, you saw the pictures in the back of our deck. We're making some great progress on Stage 2, and you likely know what these projects are. But in case for those out there who don't, you can see we've come a long way. We still have a bit to go.

有。我想我只想說，Carlos，你可以看到——你應該也理解這點。希望你有看到我們簡報後面那些照片。我們在第二階段（Stage 2）取得了很大的進展，而你也很可能知道這類專案是什麼樣子。但以防還有其他人不清楚，你可以看到我們已經走了很長一段路，但仍然還有一些要完成。

So we're just going to stay focused on getting that done. We feel we continue to feel great about 2023, normalized NDPR target. Ryan, I don't know if you want to add anything on that from a modeling perspective, but that's pretty much it.

所以我們會持續專注把它完成。我們仍然對 2023 年的常態化 NDPR 目標感到非常有信心。Ryan，從建模角度你若想補充也可以，但大致就是這樣。

And I want to state my last question. At what time -- sorry, more or less, around -- when do you expect to be able to give us more precise timing for the call commissioning or hot commissioning of Stage 2?

我想提出最後一個問題。你們預期在什麼時間——抱歉，大概在——你們預期何時能給我們更精確的第二階段（Stage 2）冷態試車（cold commissioning）或熱態試車（hot commissioning）的時程？

Maybe I'll tee this one up for Ryan. But that's -- I want to just kind of be clear, as we've said, probably, I think every earnings call since we came public that we really expect next year to be a transition year. We're going to have some cost in front of first fire, so to speak, when we commission and so there'll be some advanced work.

也許我先把這題交給 Ryan 來接。但我想先說清楚：正如我們可能自上市以來每次財報電話會議都提到的，我們確實預期明年會是過渡年。在我們所謂的首次點火（first fire）——也就是試車投產——之前會有一些成本，因此會有一些前置工作。

And obviously, it takes a little while to get things going. So we feel very good about our normalized 2023, reiterating that. But maybe for modeling purposes, Ryan, if you can try to be -- if you want to help a little bit on that front, but really give a look at a target on…

而且很顯然，讓一切運轉起來需要一些時間。所以我們對 2023 年常態化表現非常有信心，再次重申這點。不過就建模而言，Ryan，如果你願意在這方面稍微提供一些協助，嘗試更——如果你想幫一點，但主要是給一個目標在……

Yes. The reality, Carlos, is I think that where we are today, I think it's fair to assume that the second half is when we would have first oxide. We're not, at this point, being more specific than that. We will continue to update all of you as we move along with the project.

是的。Carlos，現實情況是，以我們目前所處的位置來看，我認為可以合理假設下半年會出現首次氧化物（first oxide）。現階段我們不會比這更具體。我們會在專案推進過程中持續向各位更新。

But as Jim said, obviously, hopefully, the results this quarter speak to our ability to continue to improve our Stage 1 processes, which obviously gives us a significant amount of confidence in what we will be able to achieve through Stage 2, given the REO we're producing upstream in Stage 1. But certainly, as we get ready to bring the refining facility back online, over the course of next year, the focus is properly integrating those assets.

但如 Jim 所說，希望本季的結果能反映出我們持續改善第一階段（Stage 1）流程的能力，這也讓我們對第二階段（Stage 2）能達成的成果充滿信心，因為我們在第一階段上游已在生產 REO。不過，當我們準備在明年讓精煉設施重新上線時，重點將是妥善整合這些資產。

And so in any given quarter, if we need to take an extra day of downtime to get Stage 2 -- initial stage 2 tie-ins done, certainly, we're going to make the right long-term decision for the business. But we'll continue to update you guys as we go along, but hopefully, that gives you a little bit of incremental color.

因此，在任何一個季度，如果我們需要額外多停機一天來完成第二階段（Stage 2）的初始銜接（tie-ins），我們當然會為公司做出正確的長期決策。我們也會在推進過程中持續向各位更新，希望這能提供一些額外的資訊。

Our next question comes from David Deckelbaum of Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 David Deckelbaum。

Appreciate all the color today. A nice share on the quarter. I did want to ask, just maybe getting back a little bit to last quarter. I think you guys had -- you've reiterated your view that 2023, you're confident in the NDPR separated run rate. You talked about commissioning in the second half of '22. I think you guys had alluded to some decision-making around either time or cost. What does that reality look like this quarter? And how are you feeling and sort of the gives and takes there between cost and timing right now?

感謝今天提供的所有補充資訊。本季表現不錯。我確實想問一下，可能稍微回到上一季。你們重申了對 2023 年 NDPR 分離後運轉率（separated run rate）的信心。你們也談到 2022 年下半年進行試車投產（commissioning）。我記得你們曾提到在時間或成本之間的一些決策取捨。本季這個現實狀況看起來如何？目前你們對成本與時程之間的權衡感受如何？

Sure. So great question. I think we tried to be as specific as we can in the script, which is just there are -- there's -- I mean, you see these headlines every day about supply chains and everything. And you can see from the pictures, we -- we're really -- we've made a lot of progress, but you just don't know what's around the corner. So we want to just be thoughtful until the job is done.

當然。這是個很好的問題。我想我們在講稿中已盡可能具體說明：你每天都會看到關於供應鏈等等的新聞標題。從照片也能看出，我們確實取得了很大進展，但你不知道轉角會遇到什麼。因此在工作完成之前，我們希望保持審慎。

And so you see what we see out there. But as we said earlier, the project is going really well. Certainly, there are lots of inflationary impacts in the economy. We've sort of openly stated that. And so we're just managing through all of that.

所以你們看到的外部情況，我們也同樣看得到。但如我們先前所說，專案進展非常順利。當然，整體經濟中有許多通膨影響，我們也一直很公開地提到這點。因此我們就是在這些因素下持續管理與推進。

Last quarter, we gave the example of what we were able to do with DoD and PPAs and getting some items that were at risk of kind of getting the schedule off, kind of getting those in order. And we continue to work through things like that to execute. But I do want to reiterate, I mean, I think -- and I understand people are particularly sensitive to this, given sort of the predecessor and given challenges of greenfield sites coming online.

上一季我們舉例說明，透過 DoD 與 PPA，我們如何把一些原本可能讓時程偏離的項目處理到位。我們也持續以類似方式推進執行。不過我也想再次重申：我理解大家對此特別敏感，考量到前身公司以及綠地（greenfield）專案上線常見的挑戰。

I mean, let's not forget that at the end of the day, this is a very cash-generative business while we wait. I think it's fair to say, after this quarter, we're really executing very well. So we're generating a lot of cash. And as I said earlier, whatever sort of -- when we kind of add it all up in the end, whatever amounts we're talking about here really pale in comparison to the operating cash flow we already have as a business. And of course, it's just the in-place asset value that we have.

但別忘了，歸根結底，在我們等待的期間，這是一個現金創造能力很強的業務。我認為可以公平地說，經過本季，我們的執行表現非常好。因此我們正在產生大量現金。正如我先前所說，最終把所有因素加總起來，無論我們在這裡談到的金額是多少，與我們作為一家企業已經擁有的營運現金流相比都相形見絀。當然，還有我們既有資產的在位價值（in-place asset value）。

If you were trying to create a site like this from scratch, there'd be -- there's clearly about $2 billion of invested capital. If you look back in our site, and you're talking about 5 years and multiples of that to do a fresh one. So everything that we're seeing, put multiples on that as far as replacement cost. But hopefully, that answers your question. I know you want to model these things, but we really feel really good about how the project is progressing, and we just want to make sure that we are just very thoughtful about each day until this is done.

如果你要從零開始打造這樣一個基地，顯然需要約 20 億美元的投入資本（invested capital）。如果你回頭看我們網站上的資料，你會發現要做一個全新的，可能需要 5 年時間，而且成本會是那個數字的好幾倍。所以我們所看到的一切，若以重置成本（replacement cost）的角度來看，都要乘上倍數。希望這回答了你的問題。我知道你想把這些納入模型，但我們對專案進展感覺非常好，只是希望在完成之前，每一天都能保持非常審慎。

I can appreciate that. And I know that it's probably difficult to provide a resolute answer to either time or cost right now, but -- and the details in the presentation were helpful.

我能理解。而且我知道現在要對時間或成本給出非常明確的答案可能很難，不過——簡報中的細節確實很有幫助。

And I think we've been -- thanks, sure. And David, I think we've been resolute that we feel -- and we sort of said this from the get-go, right, that 2023 normalized, that whenever you're ramping up for commissioning and then commissioning that there's -- sometimes there's challenges you didn't expect. I'm not saying we're seeing anything like that, but we want to make sure that we're very clear that we view next year to be a transition year.

我想我們一直都很明確——謝謝，當然。David，我想我們一直很堅定地認為——而且我們從一開始就這麼說——2023 年的常態化目標不變；而當你在為試車爬坡、以及進入試車（commissioning）時，有時會遇到一些你未預期的挑戰。我不是說我們看到任何類似情況，但我們希望非常清楚地表達：我們把明年視為過渡年。

So hopefully, everyone is kind of long prepared for that. We're openly telegraphing that and judge us on our ability to deliver 2023. But by the way, in the meantime, we continue to generate a lot of free cash flow while we wait. So I think it's sort of a unique positive in that sense.

所以希望大家都已經算是為此做好了長期準備。我們也很公開地釋放這個訊號，請以我們交付 2023 年目標的能力來評斷我們。不過順帶一提，在此期間、在等待的同時，我們仍持續產生大量自由現金流。因此我認為從這個角度來看，這算是一個相當獨特的正面因素。

Absolutely. Perhaps for my follow-up, I'm intrigued by the commentary around recycling because I think that this sort of underscores all of the sort of accretive opportunities that are out there as sort of a rare earth hub in the United States. When you think about undertaking these, I know with Stage 3, the downstream magnet production, this is going to be perhaps a small step, not necessarily a pilot, but it would be consuming the minority of your NDPR.

完全同意。作為追問，我對於你們談到「回收」的評論很感興趣，因為我認為這凸顯了作為美國稀土樞紐所存在的各種增值機會。當你們思考推動這些機會時，我知道在第三階段（Stage 3）的下游磁材生產方面，這可能會是一步較小的進展，不一定是試點，但它將消耗你們 NDPR 的少數部分。

As you think about some of these other opportunities, do you foresee sort of taking on a large splash, ala like a Stage 2 sort of project within the next 3 to 5 years? Or do you think that this is going to be more of a testing the waters, setting up pilots, small iterative process?

當你們思考其他一些機會時，你們是否預期在未來 3 到 5 年內承接一個較大規模的專案，例如類似第二階段（Stage 2）那樣的專案？還是你們認為這會更像是先試水溫、建立試點、以小步迭代的方式推進？

So great question. Thanks for asking, David. I think that's something that I'm not sure people fully appreciate yet about our capability on the recycling front from the standpoint of when you think about recycling a rare earth magnet, it really is we have solvent extraction, right? It's what we do at Mountain Pass. Obviously, what we're gearing up to do. It's what our in-place facilities have.

這問題問得很好。謝謝你提出來，David。我認為有一點大家可能還沒有完全理解：就回收端的能力而言，當你想到回收稀土磁鐵時，核心其實是溶劑萃取，對吧？這就是我們在 Mountain Pass 所做的事。顯然也是我們正在加速準備要做的事，也是我們既有設施所具備的能力。

And so we expect to be the global leader in rare earth magnet recycling. It's not a big business today. But I think if we look out a decade from now, it could be a huge business. And essentially, to lead in that business, it's almost a certainty that you need to have strong solvent extraction capability. And so it's really part of our core competency.

因此我們預期會成為全球稀土磁鐵回收的領導者。這在今天還不是一門很大的生意，但我認為若把時間拉長到十年後，它可能會是一門非常巨大的生意。而要在那門生意中領先，幾乎可以確定你必須具備強大的溶劑萃取能力。所以這其實就是我們的核心能力之一。

I think it's totally possible that you'll see a large project to the extent that it would make economic sense where we felt like we had a very high amount of product to flow in where it would be attractive economically. What I would tell you, when it comes to recycling, if you think about it, we're still just at the precipice of figuring out. And when I say we, I mean society writ large, figuring out recycling of battery materials and all these other things as the EV supply chain builds up.

我認為完全有可能，你會看到一個大型專案——前提是它在經濟上有意義、而且我們認為會有非常大量的料源可導入，使其在經濟上具吸引力。我想說的是，談到回收，如果你仔細想想，我們仍然只是站在摸索的起點。而我說的「我們」，是指整個社會都還在摸索電池材料回收以及其他各種事物，因為電動車供應鏈正在建立起來。

And the practical reality is, although sales are just starting to kind of take off and go asymptotic, if you think about the life cycle of an EV, let's say, it's 10 years. Some will be 5, some will be 15, whatever the number is. We are many years away from having the high volumes where it really makes a lot of sense to be truly economic.

而現實情況是，雖然銷售才剛開始起飛、呈現趨近於爆發式的成長，但如果你想想一輛電動車的生命週期，假設是 10 年；有些可能是 5 年，有些可能是 15 年，不管數字是多少。我們距離真正出現高回收量、使其在經濟上真正可行，仍然還有很多年。

And so I think that there's a lot of excitement around it. We see that -- we feel that -- and by the way, I would tell you, we are doing projects with leading industry parties, government entities, we're exploring various things. We're always having conversations, as you can imagine. And we expect to be a big player in that business.

所以我認為市場對此有很多興奮感。我們也看得到——我們也感受得到——順帶一提，我會告訴你，我們正在與領先的產業夥伴、政府機構合作推動專案，也在探索各種可能性。我們一直在進行各種對話，你可以想像得到。我們也預期會成為這門生意的重要參與者。

But the practical reality is, it's not right yet. The one other thing I would just say, but we -- by the way, we'll be there when it is, and I think it's going to be a huge opportunity for MP to, a further transformation of our business. But what I would also say is just one thought on that, is when you think about magnetics, there is some -- when we think about rare earth recycling today, you may hear of some, for example, in China, that is magnetics were kind of following off the manufacturing line, and then that's kind of taken and put back through the process.

但現實是，時機還沒到。還有一點我想補充：不過——順帶一提——等到時機成熟時我們一定會在場，我認為這將是 MP 的巨大機會，進一步推動我們業務的轉型。但我也想提出一個想法：當你想到磁材時，今天談稀土回收，你可能會聽到一些例子，例如在中國，有些磁材可能是從製造產線上掉落下來的，然後再被拿去重新走一遍製程。

We will certainly want to be positioned to do that well because that's obviously what we consider to be manufacturing efficiency, where we're making sure we're not wasting materials in our magnetics process. And so that is something, I think, in the very near term, as we kind of think about rolling out, say, June through the year-end, right, as we think about magnetics, we're going to want to make sure that we have that capability to be really efficient, economic competitive to the competitors out there.

我們當然希望能把這件事做好，因為在我們看來，這就是製造效率——確保我們在磁材製程中不浪費材料。因此我認為在非常短期內，當我們思考推進落地、例如從 6 月一路到年底，對吧？當我們思考磁材業務時，我們會希望確保具備這種能力，讓我們能夠非常有效率、具經濟性，並在成本上與市場競爭者競爭。

But then I think beyond that over time, the larger opportunity will be -- there will be spend rare earth magnets around from EVS, wind turbines, all of this stuff and the natural party to recycle those, even if there are major recyclers of other stuff like lithium and whatnot, the natural party hopefully will be us leading some of that effort. So we're focused on it.

但我認為隨著時間推進，更大的機會將會是——會有來自電動車、風力發電機等各種設備的報廢稀土磁鐵出現；而回收這些磁鐵的「自然」承接方，即使市場上也有回收鋰等其他材料的大型回收商，我們希望自然的承接方會是由我們來主導其中一部分工作。所以我們正聚焦在這件事上。

Our next question comes from Sathish Kasinathan of Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的 Sathish Kasinathan。

My first question is on the Stage 2. Last quarter, you highlighted the potential to improve the scope of the project to include heavy rare earth separation? Any update you could provide on that front, including any details on incremental CapEx required?

我的第一個問題關於第二階段（Stage 2）。上季你們提到，可能改善專案範疇，把重稀土分離納入其中？在這方面有沒有最新進展可以分享，包括所需的額外資本支出（CapEx）細節？

So Steve, thanks for the question. So we said that -- we said also, but I can -- I think I can kind of expand on that and then maybe Michael can too. So we continue to do a lot of work on heavies, how we can do it economically, what it would look like for us to do it at Mountain Pass. We believe that it will be a commercially viable, attractive business.

Steve，謝謝你的問題。我們確實提過——我想我可以再延伸說明一下，Michael 也許也可以補充。我們持續在重稀土（heavies）上做大量工作：如何以具經濟性的方式來做、如果我們在 Mountain Pass 來做會是什麼樣子。我們相信這會是一門具商業可行性且有吸引力的業務。

Obviously, we have no announcements for you on that today. But certainly, it's on mission to make sure that we can do that. So you can expect that it's top of mind again. And so it's another quarter of progress. I don't have anything specific I can give you. But maybe, Mike, if you want to give a little bit more background on some of the thought process behind heavies. Go ahead.

當然，我們今天沒有任何可對外宣布的消息。但這確實是我們的任務之一，確保我們能做到。因此你可以預期這件事仍是我們的優先考量。所以這又是一季的進展。我沒有任何具體細節可以提供。不過也許 Mike，你可以就重稀土背後的一些思考脈絡再多提供一點背景。請。

Sure. Thanks, Jim. Yes. So obviously, many magnets, including higher performance magnets have some percentage dysprosium and terbium. And therefore, to support our own magnetic capability, we would like to be able to have that ability.

好的，謝謝你，Jim。是的。很明顯，許多磁鐵（包括更高性能的磁鐵）都含有一定比例的鏑（dysprosium）與鋱（terbium）。因此，為了支援我們自身的磁材能力，我們希望能具備取得這些材料的能力。

Our process development team continues to pilot work and optimization work to improve upon what we've done so far in heavy rare earth separation, including looking at alternative separation techniques and extractants. And we continue to move along in terms of preconstruction site work and other evaluations of site infrastructure, so continue to move along and evaluate the opportunity.

我們的製程開發團隊持續進行試驗與最佳化工作，以改善我們目前在重稀土分離方面的成果，包括評估替代性的分離技術與萃取劑（extractants）。同時，我們也持續推進前期施工（preconstruction）的場地作業，以及對場址基礎設施的其他評估，因此我們會持續推進並評估這個機會。

I appreciate the color. So my next question is on the production volumes. So you indicated some downtime, some lower production volumes for fourth quarter. But given the operational improvements you have seen in the past quarters in terms of higher feed rates, higher recoveries, how should we think about the sustainable run rate on an annualized basis?

感謝補充說明。我的下一個問題關於產量。你們提到第四季會有一些停機時間、產量也會較低。但考量到你們過去幾季在提高進料速率、提高回收率方面看到的營運改善，我們應該如何看待可持續的年化運轉率（run rate）？

Sathish, I'm going to use this an opportunity to once again reiterate because I just think it's a really powerful thing. And I think that the entire team at MP should just be very proud. When we think about this quarter, the fact that we produced more REO this quarter than the predecessor did in their best year ever, ever is just -- it's an extraordinary achievement. And it shows -- it goes to just sort of the culture of execution that we have here.

Sathish，我想藉這個機會再次重申，因為我覺得這是一件非常有力的事情，而且我認為 MP 的整個團隊都應該為此感到非常自豪。當我們回顧本季，我們本季生產的稀土氧化物（REO）比前任經營者在其歷史上表現最好的一整年還要多——而且是史上最好的一年——這真的是一項非凡的成就。這也展現了——這反映出我們在這裡所建立的執行文化。

And so I'm just -- I'm really proud of the entire team on that front. So I just think it's worth reiterating that, that is just a remarkable stat. With that, I think Ryan touched on some of this stuff for next quarter, but I think you're talking about sort of more longer-term improvements. Yes. So maybe Michael or Ryan, I don't know if you guys want to chime in on this, go ahead.

所以在這方面，我對整個團隊感到非常自豪。我覺得值得再次強調，這真的是一個很了不起的數據。接著，我想 Ryan 已經談到了一些關於下季的內容，但我理解你問的是更長期的改善。是的。所以也許 Michael 或 Ryan——我不知道你們是否想補充一下——請。

Yes, I can start, and Mike, please feel free to fill in. But I think, Sathish, we feel very good about the sustainability of the improvements. And the reason we talk about REO per uptime hour is because that's the critical factor here. Our ability to have driven both increased feed rates while maintaining and improving mineral recovery, I think, has been an incredible feat by Michael and his team.

好的，我可以先說，Mike 也請隨時補充。不過我想，Sathish，我們對這些改善的可持續性非常有信心。我們之所以談「每個開機小時的 REO 產出」（REO per uptime hour），是因為這是關鍵因素。我們能在維持並提升礦物回收率的同時，推動更高的進料速率，我認為這是 Michael 和他的團隊所達成的一項了不起的成果。

The reason -- we obviously are not giving specific guidance. I think you can kind of see what the bounds of our potential outcomes can be given the results that we've put up over the last several quarters. And we talk about downtime because I think the only reason we would have a different result, I think, than this quarter is when we take downtime, both for plant turnarounds and for other reasons. I spoke a little bit about it in response to, I think it was Carlos' question. Just the focus for 2022 is doing the right thing long-term for the business in properly tying in Stage 2 assets over the course of the year, sort of regardless of when you think first oxide is coming. And so we don't want to be overly prescriptive on any specific volumes.

原因是——我們顯然不會提供具體指引。我想，從我們過去幾個季度所交出的成績，你大致可以看出我們潛在結果的上下限。我們之所以談到停機時間，是因為我認為唯一會讓我們出現與本季不同結果的情況，就是我們安排停機時，不論是為了工廠大修（turnarounds）或其他原因。我在回應——我想是 Carlos 的問題時——也稍微提到過。2022 年的重點，就是從長期角度為業務做正確的事，在一年之中把第二階段（Stage 2）資產妥善地逐步導入，而不太受你認為第一批氧化物（first oxide）何時產出的影響。因此，我們不希望對任何特定產量做過度具體的規定。

But I think that it's safe to say that we feel very good about the sustainability of the improvements that we've made. We're just going to be focused on executing for the long-term and being sure we're doing the right thing for the business and bringing on stage 2 assets thoughtfully over 2022.

但我認為可以很有把握地說，我們對已經做出的改善之可持續性非常有信心。我們將專注於長期執行，確保我們是在為業務做正確的事，並在 2022 年審慎地導入第二階段資產。

The next question comes from Tyler Langton of JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通（JPMorgan）的 Tyler Langton。

Could you just provide a little bit of color on sort of how much CapEx is left for Stage 2? And then sort of how much is kind of fixed and how much could be sort of exposed to cost inflation?

你能否再補充一些背景，關於第二階段（Stage 2）還剩下多少資本支出（CapEx）？另外，其中大概有多少是固定的，又有多少可能會暴露在成本通膨之下？

So great question. A good way of asking it in a more detailed way. We haven't given those numbers out. So obviously, if we were to do that, we would be backing into something specific that we want to make sure that we're not backing into yet. So I don't know what we can tell you on that front, but maybe, Ryan, if you want to take a crack at it as well on sort of what kind of -- answer his question.

這是個很好的問題，也是一個更細緻的問法。我們尚未對外提供那些數字。所以很明顯，如果我們現在提供，就等於會推導出某個具體數字，而我們希望確保目前還不要推導到那一步。因此我不確定在這方面我們能告訴你多少；不過也許 Ryan，你也可以試著回答一下，從某種角度——回應他的問題。

So Matt, we had spoken about the Stage 2 project overall being about a $220 million project. And obviously, that's sort of the number from several quarters ago. We don't provide a specific breakout on CapEx spend to date on what goes where. I would say, of the approximately $80 million of growth CapEx that we've spent so far this year, a significant majority of it is Stage 2 related, but there are pretty significant sums of capital in there for the combined heat and power plant and water treatment plant recommissioning.

Matt，我們先前談過第二階段（Stage 2）專案整體約為 2.2 億美元。當然，那是幾個季度前的數字。我們不會提供截至目前資本支出花到哪裡的具體拆分。我會說，今年到目前為止我們已支出的約 8,000 萬美元成長型資本支出（growth CapEx）中，絕大部分與第二階段相關，但其中也包含相當可觀的資本用於熱電共生（combined heat and power）電廠以及水處理廠的重新啟用（recommissioning）。

So I would not assume that all of the capital that we've spent this year as Stage 2 related. I think the thing that becomes a bit difficult to triangulate into for everybody, obviously, as Michael talked about some of the preconstruction site investigations and things like that for heavy rare earths.

因此，我不會假設我們今年花的所有資本都與第二階段相關。我認為對大家來說比較難以推算的一點是——如 Michael 提到的——一些針對重稀土（heavy rare earths）的前期施工（preconstruction）場址調查等工作。

There are a lot of things that sort of tie into the rest of the plant. So putting a pin in it is a bit difficult. I think the reality is we'll continue to update you as we go along on our progress on the capital spending for Stage 2, but that's about as far as we've disclosed to date.

有很多事項其實會與工廠其他部分連動，所以要明確劃分界線有點困難。現實是，我們會在推進過程中持續向各位更新第二階段的資本支出進度，但就目前而言，我們披露的資訊大概就到這裡。

And then maybe just for Stage 3, I mean, is that something where you consider taking on a partner? Or is it something where more of the focus is to sort of build and operate it yourself?

那再談第三階段（Stage 3），我的意思是，這是否是你們會考慮引入合作夥伴的事情？還是說重點更偏向由你們自行建置並營運？

Well, so I won't steal the thunder from our announcement before year-end as far as what our first step is going to be. Historically, we said buy, build and/or JV, and that remains the case. Obviously, we said on the last call, I think someone asked this or maybe it was the call -- losing track of time here, if it was one before. But the fact that we're -- it must have been the last call, the fact that we're announcing before year-end means we're building something.

我不想搶在我們年底前公告之前把內容都說完，關於我們第一步會怎麼做。過去我們說過買入、建置和／或合資（buy, build and/or JV），這仍然適用。很明顯地，我們在上一通電話會議上也提到——我想有人問過這個，或可能是再前一次的電話會議，我有點記不清時間——但因為我們會在年底前公告，這就表示我們正在建某個東西。

And so there's at least that Easter egg, so to speak. But so we are building something. But I would also just step back and say, longer term, how we view this because I just think it's important to understand it all. We will produce -- we have our -- you have our target NDPR, but we view the magnetics opportunity as something that is actually larger than what our current underlying content production is.

所以至少可以說是留了一個小彩蛋（Easter egg）。但總之，我們確實在建某個東西。不過我也想退一步，談談我們長期如何看待這件事，因為我認為理解全貌很重要。我們會生產——我們有我們的目標 NDPR，但我們認為磁材（magnetics）的機會其實比我們目前基礎內容物（content）產量所對應的機會更大。

If you look at EV penetration, just that alone, not to mention all the other electrification stuff, this is a very large opportunity. It is -- and what's fascinating about it is it's something that in the west, it's very challenging to do, unless you're positioned like us where you feel like you have some certainty upstream in the supply chain, right?

如果你看電動車（EV）滲透率，光是這一項，更不用說其他各種電氣化（electrification）相關領域，這就是一個非常巨大的機會。而且有趣的是，在西方要做到這件事非常具有挑戰性，除非你像我們一樣，覺得自己在供應鏈上游有一定的確定性，對吧？

And I think whether it was -- just to give you an example because I saw it on CNBC this morning, the CFO of Ford was talking about moving upstream. Every OEM is talking about moving upstream. I think what people are realizing is that if you play out these numbers, right, pick, look at the market tap that is just in EVs, right? So add up Tesla, GM, Ford, Volkswagen, all of them, Lucid, Rivian to be.

我想不管是——舉個例子，因為我今天早上在 CNBC 看到——福特（Ford）的 CFO 在談往上游移動。每一家 OEM 都在談往上游移動。我認為大家逐漸意識到的是，如果你把這些數字推演下去，對吧？挑一個市場切入點，就只看電動車（EV）這塊，對吧？把特斯拉（Tesla）、通用（GM）、福特（Ford）、福斯（Volkswagen）全部加起來，還有 Lucid、Rivian 等等。

There's trillions of market cap and then take the 2030 Street numbers. And then cut those in half, if you must. And what you see is the amount of magnetics required, i.e., the amount of rare earths required, that really -- it's such an enormous opportunity relative to our business today. I think one other analyst noted, we need 3 more Mountain Passes in the west, right?

市值是以兆（trillions）計，然後再看華爾街對 2030 年的預估數字；即使你必須把那些數字砍半。你會看到所需的磁材量——也就是所需的稀土量——相對於我們今天的業務規模，真的是一個極其龐大的機會。我想另一位分析師也提到，在西方我們還需要再多 3 個 Mountain Pass，對吧？

And so all of this needs to get built. And so we're going to take a first step. But here's the important thing is we're going to take a first step but we really want to make sure that people understand that our Stage 3, we don't rob Peter to pay Paul. So our next step is going to have to be thoughtful, very attractive, high-return on capital. And so we want to be thoughtful about how we do this initially, but also make sure that we're executing as well, that we're the best at it so that we can build a great and bigger business. That's obviously the longer-term opportunity.

所以這一切都需要被建置出來。我們會先邁出第一步。但重要的是，我們會先邁出第一步，同時也希望大家理解，我們的第三階段（Stage 3）不會拆東牆補西牆（don’t rob Peter to pay Paul）。所以我們下一步必須是審慎的、非常有吸引力的、資本報酬率高的。因此，我們希望在一開始就以審慎方式推進，同時也要確保執行到位、做到最好，這樣我們才能打造一家很棒且更大的企業。這顯然就是長期的機會。

And then lastly, what I would just say is if you think about all the OEMs, I mean, I think and I said this in the opening -- in the remarks, the semiconductor issue really is the ghost of Christmas future. I think that, that has not been lost on all the major manufacturers globally. And everybody is starting to think about upstream in the supply chain.

最後我想說的是，如果你想想所有 OEM，我認為——我在開場致詞裡也提到——半導體問題其實就是「未來聖誕節的幽靈」（ghost of Christmas future）。我認為這一點並沒有被全球所有主要製造商忽視。每個人都開始思考供應鏈上游。

And if you are somebody who is thinking about your magnetic situation, and you want to do some -- and you want to have a full -- a non-Chinese supply chain, we're really your only realistic option. And so you can imagine that, that has occurred to many parties. And so you can imagine that we would be having conversations with some or all of those parties.

如果你正在思考你的磁材供應狀況，並且想要建立一條完整的——非中國的供應鏈，那我們基本上是你唯一現實的選項。所以你可以想像，很多方都已經意識到這一點。因此你也可以想像，我們會與其中一些或全部的相關方進行對話。

And I think unlike maybe other scenarios, we are not in a rush to just get something done for the sake of it. We believe we have something enormously strategic and valuable. And so we want to make sure we have the right partners, the right deal, the right customers, all of those things so that we can build a much larger, broader business.

而且我認為，與其他情境不同的是，我們並不急著為了做成而做成。我們相信我們擁有極具戰略性且非常有價值的資產。因此，我們希望確保有合適的合作夥伴、合適的交易、合適的客戶，以及所有這些要素，讓我們能建立一個更大、更廣的業務。

That's how we're thinking about it. I know that probably doesn't give you a lot of specifics, but that's how we're thinking about it. And so longer term, what I would say is, again, that you should expect that the buy, build, and/or JV aspects, all those may be part of an ultimate long-term solution. But hopefully, in very near term, you'll get some specifics from us of an initial step.

這就是我們的思考方式。我知道這可能沒有給你很多具體細節，但這就是我們的思考方式。從長期來看，我想再說一次，你應該預期買入、建置和／或合資（buy, build, and/or JV）這些面向，都可能成為最終長期解決方案的一部分。但希望在非常近期，你會從我們這裡得到一些關於初始步驟的具體資訊。

I appreciate the color. That's helpful. And then just a final question. Are you hearing anything just in China, obviously, you've heard about sort of the impact of sort of power restrictions on lots of different industries. Are you hearing anything about, I guess, restrictions or the power restrictions impacting rare earth production over there?

感謝補充說明，這很有幫助。最後一個問題：你們在中國那邊有聽到什麼嗎？顯然你也聽說了電力限制對許多不同產業的影響。你們有聽到任何關於——我想是——限電或電力限制正在影響那邊稀土生產的消息嗎？

Not that this has anything to do with, but you've obviously seen NDPR prices continue to go higher. And I think that's probably driven by just the enormous demand. I mean, I think the intensity of the reach outs that we have received from parties has increased even more so than last quarter. So I think that's a function of the increased realization of potential shortages of materials. So that's very attractive.

這雖然跟我們沒什麼直接關係，但你顯然也看到 NDPR 價格持續走高。我認為這很可能是由於龐大的需求所驅動。我的意思是，我們從各方收到的接洽強度，比上一季還要更高。所以我認為這反映出大家更意識到材料可能短缺的風險。因此這非常有吸引力。

As far as the outages, there's nothing that I'm particularly aware of. I think what you're asking is sort of similar to what's happening with aluminum, right, where there's shortages, and it's driving the price of aluminum here. But I actually do think it's a relevant analogy. So I don't think -- it's not something that's going to happen that we've noticed in the last couple of weeks or anything like that, but it's a really excellent analogy to think about how people in the supply chain are thinking about this issue. And they're thinking about it across all these things.

就停產/中斷而言，我沒有特別注意到什麼。我想你問的有點像鋁正在發生的情況，對吧？也就是出現短缺，推升了這裡的鋁價。但我確實認為這是個相關的類比。所以我不認為——這不是我們在過去幾週或類似時間內注意到會發生的事情，但這確實是一個很好的類比，用來思考供應鏈中的人如何看待這個議題。而且他們是把它放在所有這些面向一起思考。

And this is not, one, this is more -- we'll say, more than 1 party that understand the risk to having the vast majority of raw materials come from one place, right? And again, I think I mentioned this in the -- as a big development during the quarter, but I would not underestimate how important of an evolution it is that China is consolidating its big 6 into a big 2. And I think -- and I've said this on prior calls, and again, I just think it's been a really big point.

而且這不是——第一，這更像是——我們會說，不只 1 個參與方都理解：讓絕大多數原材料來自單一地點的風險，對吧？再一次，我想我在——把這點作為本季的一個重大進展提過，但我不會低估中國把「大 6」整併成「大 2」這件事演進的重要性。我認為——我在之前的電話會議也說過——我只是覺得這一直是一個非常重大的重點。

If you think back a decade or 2 decades ago, there really wasn't much electrification. I think that the Chinese wanted to take over this industry. But when you think about the world today, look at the public markets, Neo, Chao pang, BYD, Li Auto. These are huge manufacturers.

如果你回想 10 年前或 20 年前，其實並沒有太多電氣化。我認為中國當時想要接管這個產業。但你看看今天的世界，看看公開市場：Neo、Chao pang、比亞迪（BYD）、理想汽車（Li Auto）。這些都是非常大型的製造商。

And so I think that there's probably an increased realization that where are their own manufacturers going to get enough supply, let alone, do we want to subsidize the West, right? It doesn't make sense to destroy our own environment to subsidize -- and again, I'm just making up names, Tesla, GM, Volkswagen, whomever, to compete against our major OEMs that are now going global. So I think you've actually really seen a sea shift in the strategic mindset from them.

所以我認為大家可能更意識到：他們自己的製造商要從哪裡取得足夠的供應？更不用說，我們是否還要補貼西方，對吧？為了補貼——而且我只是隨便舉例——特斯拉（Tesla）、通用（GM）、福斯（Volkswagen）或任何人，去跟我們現在正走向全球的主要 OEM 競爭，而去破壞我們自己的環境，這並不合理。所以我認為你確實看到他們在策略思維上出現了巨大的轉變。

And again, this is just our reading of the tea leaves, but it's intuitive, right, which is they're now positioning their upstream to feed into their downstream. And so I think that the western manufacturers are realizing that we're not going to -- China is not going to destroy their environment to subsidize our supply chain anymore. We better go figure out our supply chain. And then, of course, our phone rings, which is nice.

再說一次，這只是我們從蛛絲馬跡的解讀，但這很直觀，對吧？也就是他們現在正在把上游定位為供應下游。因此我認為西方製造商正在意識到：中國不會再為了補貼我們的供應鏈而破壞他們的環境了。我們最好去把自己的供應鏈搞清楚。然後當然，我們的電話就響了，這很好。

Our next question comes from Matt Summerville of D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 D.A. Davidson 的 Matt Summerville。

So just 2 quick questions. First, with the production number. I mean, I want to underscore that a little bit as well, being 20%, 25% higher in this quarter than any other quarter that at least I've looked at going back historically. I mean, that's a huge step function up.

我有兩個很快的問題。第一個，關於產量數字。我想也稍微強調一下：本季比我至少回溯歷史所看到的任何一季都高出 20%、25%。我的意思是，這是一個非常大的躍升。

Why could we not just apply simple algebra to that and say, okay, if 10 a quarter became 12, then why doesn't 6,000-plus tons of NDPR, purified NDPR, why is that not 6,500, 6,600.

為什麼我們不能用簡單代數來推算，說好，如果每季 10 變成 12，那麼 6,000 多噸的 NDPR、純化 NDPR，為什麼不就是 6,500、6,600？

Michael, since you live at Mountain Pass, you want to take that one?

Michael，既然你住在 Mountain Pass，你要回答這題嗎？

Thank you. This one sounds a little bit like last quarter. We continue to make improvements in our process. And I'm really proud of our team, and they're working very hard from operations, engineering, maintenance, et cetera. And I do believe we've made sustainable improvements.

謝謝。這題聽起來有點像上一季。我們持續在流程上做改善。我對我們的團隊非常自豪，他們在營運、工程、維修等等方面都非常努力。我也確實相信我們已經做出了可持續的改善。

But with those improvements, we continue to do trials and try to improve that further, and sometimes they work and sometimes they work less well. So sometimes it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back. But we're constantly moving forward. And I think the biggest opportunity for improvement and leverage to the financial model is improvement in recovery. And so we continue to focus on that.

但在這些改善之上，我們仍持續做試驗並嘗試進一步提升，而有時有效、有時效果沒那麼好。所以有時是前進兩步、後退一步。但我們一直在往前。我認為對財務模型而言，最大的改善機會與槓桿在於回收率的提升。因此我們會持續聚焦在這一點。

But you're correct, if the contained REO goes up in our concentrate, yes, you can do the math and it would result in more NDPR becoming available for separation.

不過你說得對，如果我們精礦中的 REO 含量上升，是的，你可以算數學，結果會是有更多 NDPR 可供分離。

Got it. And then it's pretty easy to pick up a newspaper and see some pretty striking statistics on just how clogged the ports have been for Los Angeles and Long Beach, which I assume, given you're not that far from there, you probably rely on those pretty heavily.

了解。第二個，你很容易從報紙上看到一些相當驚人的統計數據，關於洛杉磯與長灘港口有多麼壅塞。我猜想，因為你們離那裡不遠，應該相當依賴那些港口。

So maybe just talk a little bit about how you're managing. I mean, you say -- and it's very clear, everyone is managing it well. But how are you managing through that on a daily basis? And was there a discernible hit to your P&L, albeit we may not be able to see it just due to the inherent leverage in the model, but was there a quantifiable hit to the P&L from expedited freight, et cetera, this quarter?

所以也許談談你們如何管理。我的意思是，你說——而且很明顯，大家都管理得很好。但你們每天是怎麼應對的？另外，本季在損益表（P&L）上是否有可辨識的衝擊？雖然我們可能因為模型本身的槓桿而看不出來，但像是加急運費等等，本季對 P&L 是否有可量化的影響？

It's Ryan. Yes, I'm happy to take it. It's a great question, and we've said it a couple of times, but I'll say it again, we are tremendously proud of the team and what they were able to accomplish, not only getting out record production. But obviously, as we've talked about, ad nauseam, the timing is not always perfect, and so they were able to get out the small amount of inventory that has sort of backed up into the system over the last couple of quarters.

我是 Ryan。我很樂意回答。這是個很好的問題。我們之前說過幾次，但我再說一次：我們對團隊以及他們所完成的事情感到非常自豪，不僅創下了創紀錄的產量。而且顯然，如同我們已經反覆談到的，時點並不總是完美，因此他們也把過去幾季在系統中有點累積起來的少量庫存出貨了。

The reality of the port is that even with the incremental hours that the longshoremen are now working, the pinch point, as you would expect, as soon as you address one piece, moved somewhere else. So originally, over the course of the entire year, it's been a sprint to get shipping capacity, outbound shipping capacity. We are lucky in that we are an exporter. And so in being an exporter, the sea freight pricing has not remotely had the step function that the sea freight and imports have suffered.

港口的現實是，即使碼頭工人現在增加了工時，如你所預期的那樣，瓶頸在你解決一個環節後就會轉移到別處。所以最初在整個年度期間，這一直是一場爭取航運運能、出口航運運能的衝刺。我們很幸運，因為我們是出口商。也因為是出口商，海運費率的漲幅完全沒有像海運與進口所遭遇的那種跳升。

But what happened is now that we've been able to secure capacity on an outbound basis on sea freight, trucking has become the pinch point. And I'm sure you've heard this in many other conference calls. And so it's sort of a bit of a whack-a-mole. As soon as one piece is fixed, another crops up, but I think that we are addressing it the best that we can.

但現在發生的是：當我們已經能在海運出口端確保運能後，卡車運輸成了瓶頸。我相信你在很多其他電話會議也聽過。所以這有點像打地鼠：一個環節一修好，另一個又冒出來。但我認為我們已經在盡我們所能地處理。

You can actually see in our P&L, we disclose in our reconciliation of our production cost KPI, exactly what the shipping and freight costs are for the business. And so you'll notice on a profound basis, it has not moved meaningfully. And again that's I think from a lot of hard work from the team. But it has seen some inflation, which is not unexpected.

你其實可以在我們的損益表（P&L）中看到：我們在生產成本 KPI 的調節表裡，揭露了這項業務的運輸與貨運成本到底是多少。因此你會注意到，整體而言它並沒有顯著變動。再一次，我認為這是團隊大量努力的成果。但確實有一些通膨，這並不意外。

But just given the sheer amount of improvements that the rest of the operational folks have been able to achieve, that's a bit drowned out in the overall numbers, but it's something that we'll continue to execute on and hopefully be able to continue to overcome over the next couple of quarters. But everyone can see the numbers on the amount of ships out there and it continues to go up. So it's a full-time job for a lot of folks here.

不過，考量到其他營運同仁所達成的龐大改善幅度，這些成本上升在整體數字中有點被稀釋了。但這仍是我們會持續執行、並希望在接下來幾季持續克服的事情。只是大家都看得到外面有多少船，而且數量還在增加。所以對這裡很多人來說，這是一份全職工作。

Our final question comes from George Gianarikas of Baird.

我們最後一個問題來自 Baird 的 George Gianarikas。

Quick question on GM and the recent announcement with GE. I mean, it fits into this narrative of the U.S. and Western auto OEMs trying to procure materials. But I'm curious if you had any more detailed thoughts on that particular announcement.

關於 GM 以及最近與 GE 的公告，我有個簡短問題。我的意思是，這符合美國與西方汽車 OEM 試圖採購材料的這個敘事。但我很好奇，你對那個特定公告是否有更深入的看法。

Let me see what I want to say on that. It was obviously a beautiful announcement, and we noticed, and we applaud it. And I think that, that announcement is indicative of a lot of the conversations that you can imagine are happening writ large. And I think it highlights the importance of exactly what we're doing in our mission, and it was pretty cool.

我想想我該怎麼說。那顯然是一個很漂亮的公告，我們也注意到了，並且予以讚許。我認為那個公告反映了你可以想像正在更大範圍發生的許多對話。我也認為它凸顯了我們使命中正在做的事情的重要性，這相當酷。

Details will, I guess, follow later on that one. I'd like to -- for you, if you could expand on your thoughts on the Chinese restructuring. And exactly why you think it's as bullish as you think for NDPR? I mean, I think I understand the broad logic, but if you could just share any more details there, I'd appreciate it.

我想，關於那件事的細節之後應該會再跟進。我想請你——如果可以的話，能否再延伸談談你對中國重組的看法？以及你認為這對 NDPR 為何會像你所說的那麼偏多（bullish）？我的意思是，我大概理解整體邏輯，但如果你能再分享更多細節，我會很感激。

Yes. I mean I think that if you look back -- and again, this is just reading the tea leaves, so you always do your own work on this front. But from what we see, if you kind of look at the arc over the last decade or 2, right? There were hundreds of players, many illegal ones. There was essentially no regard for the environment, particularly in the south of China with clays and just in toxic water going places, wherever you can go on YouTube and see stuff in the north and the south, whatever.

是的。我的意思是，我認為如果你回頭看——而且再次強調，這只是從蛛絲馬跡中推測，所以這部分你一定要自己做功課。但就我們所看到的，如果你把過去 10 到 20 年的發展脈絡拉出來看，對吧？當時有數百個參與者，其中很多是非法的。基本上對環境毫不在意，特別是在中國南方的黏土開採，以及有毒污水四處流竄；你隨便上 YouTube 都能看到北方、南方的相關畫面等等。

That was cleaned up over time with a consolidation into the 6 majors. And even throughout that process, there was a continued crackdown on some of the illegal mining that had occurred. And some of the -- when you hear of the quota system, that's really about getting the illegal mining into the legal production system.

這些問題隨著時間推移被整頓，並透過整併集中到六大企業。而且即便在那個過程中，對部分曾經發生的非法採礦仍持續加強打擊。至於你聽到的配額制度，那其實主要是要把非法採礦納入合法的生產體系。

And then what I think you saw here is just a continuation of that theme. It's a very strategic process, which is, I think, in the beginning, there was sort of a free for all of production of materials and magnets to be the low-cost producer irrespective of profitability and externality impact, right, to take over an industry.

然後我認為你在這裡看到的，只是那個主題的延續。這是一個非常具戰略性的流程；我想一開始，某種程度上是材料與磁材生產的「大混戰」，目標是成為低成本生產者，而不管獲利能力與外部性影響，對吧？藉此接管一個產業。

But the longer-term objective was likely, I would think, is ultimately about GDP and jobs, right? That is political power in China is driven by GDP and jobs. And so I think that now that there has been a downstream movement, right, and look at the major companies that have moved and brought jobs there downstream in this space.

但我認為更長期的目標很可能——我猜——最終是關於 GDP 與就業，對吧？在中國，政治權力是由 GDP 與就業所驅動的。所以我認為，現在既然已經出現往下游移動的趨勢，對吧？而且你看看這個領域裡那些已經往下游遷移、把工作機會帶到那裡的主要公司。

Now that, that has occurred, Chinese industry has not just accepted that, they've moved downstream themselves, and they want to compete. And so they -- to their credit, right? This is a brilliant strategic move to utilize an industry to then move downstream. But it wasn't lost on them that there were some very significant environmental impacts. And that subsidy, which was helpful, historically, makes little to no sense in a world where they now have their own downstream competitors and those downstream competitors want to get product.

既然這已經發生，中國產業不只是接受這件事，他們自己也往下游走，並且想要競爭。所以他們——說句公道話，對吧？——這是一個非常高明的戰略動作：利用一個產業，進而推動往下游延伸。但他們也沒有忽視其中一些非常重大的環境衝擊。而那種補貼在歷史上確實有幫助，但在一個他們如今已有自己的下游競爭者、而那些下游競爭者又想取得產品的世界裡，這種補貼幾乎沒有道理可言。

And so what I think this is setting up for is those 2 large entities will be able to satisfy demand, downstream demands of their industrial leaders. And I think that consolidating that into a northern, a southern for a light and a heavy, provides much more centralized control over that upstream. To then figure out how and when and where to feed into the downstream.

因此我認為，這樣的安排將使那兩個大型實體能夠滿足其工業龍頭的下游需求。我也認為，把上游整併成北方與南方、分別對應輕稀土與重稀土，能讓上游獲得更集中化的管控，進而決定如何、何時、以及在哪裡供應到下游。

But I think it would be a big stretch to then assume that the whole point of that would be to say, hey, okay, western OEM, here's some magnets that are below market rate because we just want to keep making magnets, right? That doesn't make any sense. And so I think that is sort of the long historical strategic narrative that we see. And so I think it's -- again, it's -- it comes down to just think of, for example, semiconductors. I think there were a lot of people who thought, oh, this is a $2 chip. This can be made somewhere else forever.

但我認為，如果進一步假設其目的就是要說：嘿，好吧，西方 OEM，這裡有一些低於市價的磁材，因為我們只是想繼續做磁材，對吧？那就太牽強了。那完全說不通。所以我認為，這就是我們看到的長期、歷史性的戰略敘事。因此我認為——再次強調——這歸根結底就像半導體一樣。很多人曾以為，喔，這是一顆 2 美元的晶片，永遠都可以在別的地方生產。

And I think what we're seeing is, uh-oh, if for whatever reason, there's an interruption in that, that is then existential. And so maybe there'll be some excess supply, maybe there won't. But then the question is, if you are a huge company today, and you see there was an article on Bloomberg today about the magnet who runs CATL and their use of going upstream and dominating materials to move downstream in batteries.

而我認為我們現在看到的是：糟了，如果因為任何原因供應出現中斷，那就會變成攸關存亡的問題。所以也許會有一些供給過剩，也許不會。但問題是，如果你今天是一家很大的公司，而你看到——今天彭博有一篇文章談到 CATL 的磁材相關負責人，以及他們如何透過往上游、主導材料，來推動電池的下游布局。

And what you realize is that if you're a downstream player, I don't think that you're going to want to risk your existence, your business on that supply chain. Even if you don't believe it's nefarious, it's a strategic risk. And by the way, this piece is not just sort of Jim's musings. This is what we're hearing from downstream parties.

你會意識到，如果你是下游玩家，我不認為你會願意把你的生存、你的業務押在那條供應鏈上。即使你不認為其中有惡意，這也是一種戰略風險。順帶一提，這不只是 Jim 的一些隨想；這是我們從下游各方聽到的回饋。

Now the challenge, and this is what we like to highlight on our asset value when people, if you're thinking about $1 million here, $1 million there or whatever, then the number on the small stuff is, when you think about if this huge amount of material and magnetics needs to exist in the West, who's going to build all of this stuff when -- if there's a very cheap cost of capital downstream because the market cap of EV makers, for example, is through the roof.

現在的挑戰在於——這也是我們在談資產價值時喜歡強調的——當人們在想這裡 100 萬美元、那裡 100 萬美元之類的小數字時，真正的關鍵是：如果西方需要建立如此龐大的材料與磁材產能，誰要來建這一切？尤其是在——例如電動車製造商的市值高得驚人——使得下游資金成本非常便宜的情況下。

But when you have mining and materials trading with higher cost of capital, how is all this stuff going to get made, particularly when you think about the fact that this is challenging stuff. It takes years, right? And so I just think this is setting up for people should go out and do this math of look at the 2030 projections. Again, look at the 2030 projections of what all of this market cap is suggesting in global industry for the electrification. And then go check your various commodities.

但當採礦與材料交易的資金成本更高時，這一切要怎麼做出來？特別是當你想到這些事情很具挑戰性，需要好幾年，對吧？所以我認為，這是在提醒大家應該去算這筆帳：看看 2030 年的預測。再次強調，看看 2030 年的預測——全球產業電氣化所隱含的這些市值在暗示什麼——然後去對照你所關注的各種大宗商品。

And in particular, I think NDPR, it's very striking. And something's got to give, right? And maybe it's something in the middle. And of course, there can always be some substitution in some areas. But of course, if you substitute in some areas, there are trade-offs of other commodities and significant losses of performance with batteries and other commodities and losing out to your competition.

尤其是 NDPR，我覺得非常醒目。總得有些事情會改變，對吧？也許會在中間某個環節發生調整。當然，在某些領域永遠可能有一些替代。但同樣地，如果你在某些領域做替代，就會在其他大宗商品上產生取捨，並且在電池與其他商品上出現顯著的性能損失，進而在競爭中落後。

And so I believe, and I said this last quarter, that what you're going to see is there are some early OEMs that have figured this out that are already solving this problem. And then the ones that are sort of last to figure this out, their businesses may literally fail or they'll need a bailout of some kind.

因此我相信——我在上個季度也說過——你將會看到有一些較早期的 OEM 已經想通這件事，並且正在解決這個問題。而那些最後才意識到的人，他們的業務可能真的會失敗，或者需要某種形式的紓困。

And so that's why I believe that we are uniquely well positioned because -- and I mean this with the utmost humility, but I do believe in 5 or so years, they'll need us more than we'll need them. And so we want to balance being on mission and thoughtful and making sure that we serve our strategic objective of making sure that we can satisfy a lot of industry participants with obviously doing what's right for shareholders.

所以這就是為什麼我相信我們具備獨特的有利位置，因為——我以最大的謙遜來說——但我確實相信在大約 5 年左右，他們需要我們的程度會超過我們需要他們的程度。因此我們希望在堅守使命、審慎思考的同時，確保我們能達成戰略目標：也就是確保我們能滿足眾多產業參與者的需求，同時當然也要做對股東有利的事。

That's the end of the Q&A session. I'll hand the call back to Mr. James Litinsky for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我把電話交回給 James Litinsky 先生作結語。

Okay. Well, thank you, everyone. I obviously want to say again, thanks to the MP team, really outstanding quarter end execution, and we look forward to talking to you all soon. Have a great day. Night. Bye.

好的。嗯，謝謝各位。我也想再說一次，感謝 MP 團隊，在季末執行上表現非常出色，我們也期待很快再與各位交流。祝大家有美好的一天。晚安。掰掰。

This concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your line.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以掛斷電話。