MP Materials Corp. (MP) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, welcome to the MP Materials Q2 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Also as a reminder, this conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time.

您好，歡迎參加 MP Materials 2026 年第二季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 另外提醒各位，本次會議將被錄音。如有任何異議，請於此時中斷連線。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Martin Sheehan, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Sheehan, you may begin.

接下來，我想把電話會議交給投資人關係主管 Martin Sheehan。Sheehan 先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the MP Materials second-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. With me today from MP Materials are James Litinsky, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Rosenthal, Founder and Chief Operating Officer; and Ryan Corbett, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，各位下午好。歡迎參加 MP Materials 2026 年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的 MP Materials 團隊成員包括：創辦人、董事長兼執行長 James Litinsky；創辦人兼營運長 Michael Rosenthal；以及財務長 Ryan Corbett。

As a reminder, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements relating to future events and expectations that are subject to various assumptions and caveats. Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation, earnings release, and in our SEC filings.

提醒各位，今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述，涉及對未來事件與預期的看法，且受多項假設與限制條件影響。可能導致公司實際結果與這些陳述存在重大差異的因素，已載於今日簡報、財報新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。

In addition, we have included some non-GAAP financial measures in this presentation. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in today's earnings release and the appendix to today's slide presentation. Any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA and tons means metric tons. Finally, the earnings release and slide presentation are available on our website.

此外，我們在本次簡報中也納入部分非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務衡量指標之調節表，可於今日財報新聞稿及今日投影片簡報的附錄中查閱。我們今天討論中任何提及 EBITDA 皆指調整後 EBITDA，而「tons」皆指公噸（metric tons）。最後，財報新聞稿與投影片簡報已公布於我們的網站。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim.

接下來，我把電話會議交給 Jim。

Thank you, Martin, and thank you all for joining us today. This was another strong quarter of execution as we continued scaling both our Materials and Magnetics businesses. We expanded production, broadened our product portfolio, advanced commercial magnet manufacturing, and continued building the next phase of our operating platform.

謝謝你，Martin，也謝謝各位今天加入我們。本季我們在執行面再度交出強勁表現，持續擴大我們的材料（Materials）與磁材（Magnetics）兩大業務規模。我們擴增產能、拓展產品組合、推進商業化磁鐵製造，並持續建置營運平台的下一階段。

Starting with the Materials Segment, we produced 840 metric tons of NdPr, up 41% year over year, consistent with our expectations. Despite an extended planned plant shutdown in April, we met our production objectives while continuing to improve throughput as we ramp production at scale. We expect significant volume growth next quarter as we continue progressing toward our targeted year-end NdPr production run rate. Michael will discuss our operational progress in greater detail shortly.

先從材料事業部開始，本季我們生產 840 公噸 NdPr，年增 41%，符合我們的預期。儘管 4 月有一次延長的計畫性停機，我們仍達成生產目標，並在規模化爬坡過程中持續提升產線吞吐量。隨著我們持續朝年末目標的 NdPr 產量運轉率邁進，我們預期下季出貨量將顯著成長。稍後 Michael 將更詳細說明我們的營運進展。

Importantly, customer demand continues to outpace our production growth. NdPr sales exceeded 1,000 metric tons for the second consecutive quarter, up 127% year over year. As we scale NdPr production, our engineering and operations teams are also advancing three major initiatives: commissioning the heavy rare earth separation circuit, restarting our on-site chlor-alkali facility, and breaking ground on our new recycling facility. Michael will discuss these initiatives in greater detail, but I want to highlight that we are actively commissioning our Dy/Tb circuit and remain on track to begin shipping product from Mountain Pass to Independence later this year.

重要的是，客戶需求仍持續超過我們的產量成長。NdPr 銷量連續第二季超過 1,000 公噸，年增 127%。在擴大 NdPr 產能的同時，我們的工程與營運團隊也在推進三項重大計畫：重稀土分離迴路的試車投產、重啟廠內氯鹼（chlor-alkali）設施，以及我們新回收設施的動土開工。Michael 將更深入說明這些計畫；但我想強調，我們正在積極進行 Dy/Tb 迴路的試車，並仍按計畫於今年稍晚開始將產品自 Mountain Pass 出貨至 Independence。

In July, we entered into a long-term agreement to supply gadolinium oxide to a leading US aerospace and defense manufacturer. This is expected to be a sizable nine-figure deal in total over multiple years that expands our heavy rare earth product portfolio at attractive returns. Our heavy rare earth strategy is deliberately disciplined. We expand our product portfolio where customer demand and attractive returns justify investment, building the Material segment one product at a time. We believe this approach can continue to expand both our product portfolio and the segment's long-term earnings power.

7 月，我們與一家領先的美國航太與國防製造商簽訂長期協議，供應氧化釓（gadolinium oxide）。預期該合約在多年期間合計將達到可觀的九位數美元規模，並以具吸引力的報酬擴充我們的重稀土產品組合。我們的重稀土策略一向採取審慎且自律的方式。我們僅在客戶需求與具吸引力的投資報酬足以支持投資時，才擴展產品組合，以「一次一個產品」的方式打造材料事業部。我們相信此一做法可持續擴大產品組合，並提升該事業部的長期獲利能力。

Our operating progress also translated into strong financial performance. The Material segment generated $113.2 million of revenue plus PPA income and $32.5 million of adjusted EBITDA, a $45 million year-over-year improvement.

我們的營運進展也轉化為強勁的財務表現。材料事業部創造 1.132 億美元營收加上 PPA 收入，並貢獻 3,250 萬美元調整後 EBITDA，較去年同期改善 4,500 萬美元。

Turning to Magnetics, startup and customer qualification activities at Independence continued to advance. During the quarter, we delivered magnets to GM for in-vehicle qualification testing, and we continue to expect to begin commercial shipments in the fourth quarter, followed by a steady production ramp. Precursor production generated adjusted EBITDA margins exceeding 40%, highlighting the earnings potential of the Magnetic segment as we continue scaling the business. Ryan will discuss how the economics of the segment evolve as we ramp commercial Magnet production over the coming quarters.

接著談磁材事業部，Independence 廠的試產啟動與客戶認證活動持續推進。本季我們已向 GM 交付磁鐵，用於車載認證測試；我們仍預期將於第四季開始商業出貨，之後產量將穩步爬坡。前驅體（precursor）產品的生產帶來超過 40% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率，凸顯磁材事業部在持續擴張過程中的獲利潛力。Ryan 將說明未來幾季隨著商業化磁鐵產量提升，該事業部的經濟性如何演變。

At the same time, construction of our 10X facility continues to accelerate. Foundation work is underway. Long lead production equipment has been ordered, and we are prepared to begin vertical construction shortly. As we ramp Independence, we are already building the next phase of America's domestic magnet manufacturing platform.

同時，我們的 10X 設施建設持續加速。地基工程已在進行中。長交期的生產設備已下單，我們也已準備好在不久後開始主體結構施工。在推進 Independence 產能爬坡的同時，我們也已著手打造美國本土磁鐵製造平台的下一階段。

Demand for secure, large-scale magnet manufacturing continues to grow. Structural supply constraints remain, and we continue to see strong interest from customers across automotive, industrial, aerospace, defense, and emerging physical AI applications. With Independence substantially committed and the Department of War supporting the development of 10X, we are able to be disciplined in selecting long-term partners and structuring commercial agreements that reflect the strategic value of domestic magnet manufacturing. We expect to have additional customer announcements over time.

對安全且具大規模能力的磁鐵製造需求持續成長。結構性的供給限制仍在，我們也持續看到來自汽車、工業、航太、國防，以及新興實體 AI 應用等客戶的強勁興趣。在 Independence 產能已大幅被承諾、且戰爭部（Department of War）支持 10X 的開發之下，我們得以在選擇長期合作夥伴與設計商業協議時保持自律，並反映美國本土磁鐵製造的策略價值。我們預期未來將陸續公布更多客戶相關消息。

One area of particularly strong interest is autonomous systems. Over the past several months, we have worked with US and allied drone manufacturers to launch Project Swarm, an industrial coordination initiative designed to aggregate and standardize future magnet demand. We have already signed subscription agreements with a number of participants. Rather than asking emerging companies to make long-term purchasing commitments before their products are fully developed, Project Swarm allows them to secure future manufacturing capacity today while preserving the flexibility to continue innovating.

其中一個特別受到高度關注的領域是自主系統。過去幾個月，我們與美國及盟國的無人機製造商合作，推出「Project Swarm」，這是一項產業協調計畫，旨在彙整並標準化未來的磁鐵需求。我們已與多位參與者簽署訂閱協議。相較於要求新興公司在產品尚未完全開發前就做出長期採購承諾，Project Swarm 讓他們能在今天就鎖定未來製造產能，同時保有持續創新的彈性。

Project Swarm reflects our belief that industrial leadership requires more than manufacturing capacity. It also requires helping coordinate the ecosystem around it. By reducing supply chain uncertainty, we can help innovative companies focus on building the next generation of autonomous systems while strengthening America's industrial base and building long-term shareholder value.

Project Swarm 反映我們的信念：產業領導力不僅需要製造產能。也需要協助協調其周邊生態系。透過降低供應鏈不確定性，我們能協助創新公司專注打造下一代自主系統，同時強化美國的產業基礎並創造長期股東價值。

With that, let me turn the call over to Ryan. Ryan?

接下來，我把電話會議交給 Ryan。Ryan？

Thanks, Jim. The company generated $126.1 million of revenue and PPA income, more than doubling last year's revenue, driven primarily by the 127% increase in sales volumes of NdPr. The higher revenue and PPA income contributed to consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $28.5 million in the quarter, a $41 million improvement year over year. These factors also drove adjusted diluted EPS to improve $0.12 to a loss of $0.01 per share.

謝謝，Jim。公司本季營收與 PPA 收入合計 1.261 億美元，較去年營收增加逾一倍，主要由 NdPr 銷售量年增 127% 所帶動。較高的營收與 PPA 收入使本季合併調整後 EBITDA 達 2,850 萬美元，較去年同期改善 4,100 萬美元。這些因素也使調整後稀釋每股盈餘（EPS）改善 0.12 美元至每股虧損 0.01 美元。

On a sequential basis, Materials revenue plus PPA income was essentially flat, with identical sales volumes and the impact of the price floor. Magnetics revenue declined slightly, which was driven by a much higher proportion of costs being attributable to the startup of magnet production versus precursor product production, which impacts the pricing of our metal products ahead of commercial magnet production.

以季比來看，材料事業部營收加上 PPA 收入基本持平，銷售量相同，並反映價格下限的影響。磁材事業部營收小幅下滑，主因是相較於前驅體產品生產，更多成本被歸因於磁鐵生產的啟動作業；在商業化磁鐵量產前，這會影響我們金屬產品的定價。

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA declined modestly, primarily reflecting the costs associated with the planned biannual plant shutdown at Mountain Pass and the transition period at Magnetics ahead of commercial magnet revenue.

本季合併調整後 EBITDA 小幅下降，主要反映 Mountain Pass 計畫性每半年一次的停機成本，以及磁材事業部在商業化磁鐵營收開始前的過渡期成本。

Looking ahead to Q3, regarding pricing, our current view of sales mix and timing suggests that realized pricing for NdPr oxide sales will be in the high 90s per kilogram, leaving PPA income to come in at roughly $10 per kilogram. With market pricing hovering at about $110 per kilogram in the first part of Q3, we continue to expect minimal PPA income from stockpiled NdPr contained in concentrate that is stored in inventory. So we would expect a slight sequential decline in overall PPA income.

展望第三季（Q3），就定價而言，我們目前對銷售組合與時點的看法顯示，氧化釹鐠（NdPr oxide）銷售的實現價格將落在每公斤接近 90 多美元的高檔區間，使得 PPA 收入約為每公斤 10 美元。由於第三季前段市場價格徘徊在每公斤約 110 美元，我們仍預期，對於庫存中存放之精礦所含、已囤積的 NdPr，PPA 收入將非常有限。因此，我們預期整體 PPA 收入將出現小幅的季比下滑。

Given timing of shipments and metallization lead times, we expect sales volumes in the Materials segment to be flattish, depending on the ultimate sales mix. As of June 30, we had approximately 650 metric tons of NdPr oxide and metal on hand, in transit, at toll processors, or waiting for shipment.

考量出貨時點與金屬化（metallization）前置時間，我們預期材料（Materials）事業部的銷售量將大致持平，視最終銷售組合而定。截至 6 月 30 日，我們約有 650 公噸的 NdPr 氧化物與金屬在手、在途、位於代工處理商（toll processors）處，或等待出貨。

Turning to Magnetics, the segment delivered another solid quarter of revenue and EBITDA performance, declining slightly sequentially as we discussed on our last call. This leaves approximately $46 million of prepaid revenue to be earned for Magnetic precursor products over the next three to four quarters on a modestly declining basis quarter to quarter. Once this prepayment is fully recognized, we will no longer expect to produce these products for external sale and instead will dedicate metal production capacity towards our needs for the manufacture and delivery of finished magnets. As Jim also noted, we expect initial commercial magnet deliveries to start within the fourth quarter, beginning with modest volumes, with capacity ramping over the following quarters.

談到磁材（Magnetics），該事業部本季營收與 EBITDA 表現再度穩健，較前一季小幅下滑，正如我們在上次電話會議中所討論。這使得約 4,600 萬美元的預收收入，將在未來三到四季以每季小幅遞減的方式，逐步就磁材前驅產品（Magnetic precursor products）認列。一旦該預收款全數認列完畢，我們將不再預期為對外銷售而生產這些產品，而是會將金屬產能投入於我們自身成品磁鐵的製造與交付需求。如 Jim 也提到的，我們預期初期商業化磁鐵交付將於第四季開始，先以較小量起步，並在後續季度逐步提升產能。

As I mentioned last quarter, in the short term, financials period to period will be impacted by the eventual roll-off of precursor product deliveries, the early scaling of magnet production, timing of certain product testing milestones at our customers' facilities, as well as investments in our team and product development capabilities. Importantly, these efforts will pay off not only for scaled production for GM, but also our follow-on contracts with Apple and the Department of War, as well as other future customers.

如我上季所提，短期內，各期財務表現將受到多項因素影響，包括前驅產品交付最終逐步退場、磁鐵產能早期擴產、客戶端設施若干產品測試里程碑的時點，以及我們在團隊與產品開發能力上的投資。重要的是，這些努力不僅將為 GM 的規模化生產帶來回報，也將支持我們與 Apple 及戰爭部（Department of War）的後續合約，以及其他未來客戶。

Regarding cash flow, CapEx in the quarter was $230.3 million, with a little over 60% attributable to the Magnetics segment. Note that in the second quarter, we acquired the 10X site for approximately $80 million. This brings our year-to-date spend to $308 million as of June 30. We continue to expect full-year CapEx spend to be in the $500 million to $600 million range.

就現金流而言，本季資本支出（CapEx）為 2.303 億美元，其中略高於 60% 歸因於磁材（Magnetics）事業部。請注意，在第二季我們以約 8,000 萬美元收購了 10X 場址。截至 6 月 30 日，這使我們年初至今支出達 3.08 億美元。我們仍預期全年資本支出將落在 5 億至 6 億美元區間。

Lastly, on the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $1.45 billion of cash and short-term investments. Together with expected improvements to operating cash flow from growing oxide sales, related cost reductions, as well as magnet production, this fully funds our long-term capital plan and preserves our fortress balance sheet.

最後，就資產負債表而言，我們在季末持有 14.5 億美元的現金與短期投資。結合氧化物銷售成長、相關成本降低以及磁鐵生產所帶來的營運現金流改善預期，這將足以完全支應我們的長期資本計畫，並維持我們堅實如堡壘的資產負債表。

With that, let me turn it over to Michael. Michael?

接下來，我把時間交給 Michael。Michael？

Thanks, Ryan. Operationally, it was another solid quarter across both the Materials and Magnetics divisions as we continued to increase production while investing in the next phase of growth. At Mountain Pass, results were generally in line with expectations. Upstream production was solid. As we noted on our Q1 call, Q2 included our scheduled semiannual maintenance outage, and results reflected the normal effects of shutdown, maintenance, and restart activities associated with that work. Unrelated projects extended the downtime, and that, along with the effects of certain pilot testing, contributed to the year-over-year comparisons.

謝謝，Ryan。在營運面，材料（Materials）與磁材（Magnetics）兩大部門本季再度交出穩健表現；我們在投資下一階段成長的同時，也持續提升產量。在 Mountain Pass，整體結果大致符合預期。上游產量表現穩健。如我們在第一季電話會議所提，第二季包含例行的半年一次維修停機，結果反映了與該工作相關之停機、維修與重啟活動的正常影響。與此無關的專案延長了停機時間，而這點再加上若干試點測試（pilot testing）的影響，亦造成了年比比較的差異。

During the quarter, we advanced several important initiatives in the Upstream business, including a full plant reagent trial that delivered very encouraging results. When implemented, we expect this change to sustain current performance while affording a positive impact on reclaim water quality and providing greater resiliency in our supply chain, albeit at a modestly higher direct cost.

本季，我們推進了上游業務的數項重要計畫，包括一次全廠試劑（reagent）試驗，並取得非常令人鼓舞的成果。在導入後，我們預期此變更可在維持目前績效的同時，對回收水水質帶來正面影響，並提升供應鏈韌性，儘管直接成本將小幅上升。

We also expanded pilot testing of a new pre-float process that we now anticipate implementing at scale by 2028. This initiative will improve concentrate quality. More important benefits may be realized in our midstream circuits with lower operating costs, improved uptime, and higher finished product quality.

我們也擴大了新型預浮選（pre-float）流程的試點測試，並預期於 2028 年以前以規模化方式導入。此計畫將提升精礦品質。更重要的是，在我們的中游迴路（midstream circuits）中，可能可實現更低的營運成本、更高的開機率，以及更高的成品品質等效益。

As I've discussed previously, we continue to look for both traditional and innovative ways to unlock additional value from the world-class Mountain Pass ore body. We are highly encouraged by early exploratory drilling results that suggest the potential for additional ore within the existing pit contours. Combined with ongoing advancements in flotation performance, a growing ability to manage variability in ore and gangue mineralogy, and several promising ore pre-concentration initiatives, I am increasingly confident in the long-term development potential of this unique asset. More to come on this in the coming quarters.

如我先前所述，我們持續尋找傳統與創新方式，從世界級的 Mountain Pass 礦體中釋放更多價值。我們對早期探勘鑽探結果感到非常振奮，該結果顯示在現有礦坑輪廓範圍內可能存在額外礦石。結合浮選表現的持續進展、對礦石與脈石礦物學（gangue mineralogy）變異的管理能力提升，以及數項具前景的礦石預濃縮（pre-concentration）計畫，我對這項獨特資產的長期開發潛力愈發有信心。未來幾季我們將提供更多進展。

In our midstream operations, performance continues to show significant year-over-year growth and steady sequential improvement adjusted for scheduled downtime. Most of our circuits are performing very well. We are seeing encouraging progress across the operation. Through targeted equipment upgrades and process enhancements, we are addressing the handful of circuits that continue to present reliability challenges affecting yield and throughput.

在中游營運方面，若排除例行停機調整後，績效持續呈現顯著的年比成長，並維持穩健的季比改善。我們大多數迴路運作表現良好。我們在整體營運上看到令人鼓舞的進展。透過針對性的設備升級與製程強化，我們正處理少數仍存在可靠度挑戰、並影響收率與處理量的迴路。

While intermittent one-off issues occasionally impact production, overall plant reliability, throughput, and operational consistency continue to trend in the right direction. Based on current performance, I expect Q3 NdPr production to exceed 1,000 metric tons. The past three months have been particularly fruitful for our growth initiatives.

雖然偶發的單一事件有時會影響產量，但整體工廠可靠度、處理量與營運一致性仍持續朝正確方向改善。基於目前表現，我預期第三季 NdPr 產量將超過 1,000 公噸。過去三個月對我們的成長計畫而言尤其成果豐碩。

In May, we achieved mechanical completion of our first heavy rare earth separation circuit. Since then, the team has been focused on punch list completion, equipment checkouts, and completing initial commissioning activities. We are preparing to introduce feed to the circuit imminently. While the exact ramp will ultimately depend on the realities of commissioning a new circuit at scale and prioritizing quality over quantity, we remain on track to produce terbium and dysprosium later this year.

5 月，我們完成了第一套重稀土分離迴路（heavy rare earth separation circuit）的機械完工（mechanical completion）。此後，團隊專注於待辦清單（punch list）結案、設備檢查，以及完成初期試車（commissioning）活動。我們正準備在近期向該迴路導入進料。雖然實際爬坡速度最終將取決於在規模化條件下新迴路試車的現實情況，且我們會以品質優先於數量，但我們仍按計畫在今年稍晚生產鋱（terbium）與鏑（dysprosium）。

We also made significant progress on our samarium program, advancing both engineering and procurement, and are planning first production in 2028. As Jim noted, we are excited to have secured a long-term commercial arrangement for gadolinium at (inaudible). Combined with the technical success of an extended pilot campaign, we are now moving forward with engineering and procurement to complete the gadolinium separation project on a similar timeline.

我們在釤（samarium）計畫上也取得重大進展，工程與採購均向前推進，並規劃於 2028 年首次投產。如 Jim 所提，我們很高興已就釓（gadolinium）取得一項長期商業安排，位於（聽不清）。結合延長試點活動的技術成功，我們現正推進工程與採購，以在相近時程內完成釓分離專案。

In the quarter, we finished clearing land and demolition of previously retired assets and are planning to break ground this month on an expanded area that will house both magnet recycling and additional heavy rare earth separation and finishing. This marks another important step in expanding the range of products and value-added capabilities at Mountain Pass.

本季，我們完成了土地清理與先前已退役資產的拆除，並計畫於本月在擴增區域動工；該區域將同時容納磁鐵回收以及額外的重稀土分離與精製（finishing）設施。這標誌著我們在 Mountain Pass 擴大產品範圍與加值能力的另一項重要里程碑。

Lastly, we continue to make meaningful forward progress on our chlor-aklaki recommissioning effort. Several important milestones were achieved during the quarter, including bringing additional brine pretreatment online. We are already seeing positive results in crystallizer performance, providing an encouraging early indication of the operational benefits we expect the chlor-alkali project to deliver.

最後，我們在氯鹼（chlor-alkali）重新投運（recommissioning）工作上持續取得實質進展。本季達成了數項重要里程碑，包括讓更多鹵水（brine）前處理上線。我們已在結晶器（crystallizer）表現上看到正面成果，這為氯鹼專案預期帶來的營運效益提供了令人鼓舞的早期跡象。

Our Magnetics operation also had an extremely productive quarter. We made substantial progress in GM customer qualification activities while continuing to scale towards 24/7 production across all major processes. Importantly, we are now demonstrating the capability and consistency required to support our customers' volume ramp, clearing one of the most important milestones in the qualification process.

我們的磁材業務本季同樣表現極為亮眼、成果豐碩。在持續朝向所有主要製程的 24/7 量產規模化推進的同時，我們在通用汽車（GM）客戶資格認證活動方面取得了實質進展。更重要的是，我們現在已展現出支援客戶放量爬坡所需的能力與一致性，跨越了認證流程中最關鍵的里程碑之一。

Achieving these milestones required extraordinary effort across the organization. As expected at this stage of the ramp, the team has had to work through a wide range of technical, operational, and customer-driven challenges. As we have said before, the rigor required to meet the auto industry's exacting standards positions us well to serve customers with the most demanding performance requirements. I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished and continue to be impressed by the ingenuity, determination, and unwavering spirit our team brings to the mission every day.

達成這些里程碑需要全組織付出非凡的努力。如同在此爬坡階段所預期的，團隊必須克服各式各樣的技術、營運以及客戶驅動的挑戰。正如我們先前所說，為符合汽車產業嚴苛標準所需的嚴謹度，使我們具備良好條件去服務對性能要求最嚴格的客戶。我對我們所完成的成果感到無比自豪，也持續對團隊每天為使命帶來的創意、決心與堅定不移的精神印象深刻。

While there remains important work ahead, we are making very meaningful progress across the operation, and our foundational customers are increasingly seeing and validating that progress as well. The results of those efforts will become increasingly evident in the quarters ahead.

儘管前方仍有重要工作要做，我們在整體營運上正取得非常有意義的進展，而我們的基礎客戶也愈來愈能看見並驗證這些進展。這些努力的成果將在未來幾個季度愈發明顯。

Our partnership with Apple on magnet recycling, magnet production, and joint development continues to advance. At the same time, our engineering team is expanding the portfolio of high-performance magnet grades we can produce while continuously refining the underlying chemistry. Consistent with what we discussed last quarter, we are steadily reducing the heavy rare earth intensity of our products through both grain boundary diffusion technology and other process innovations across each stage of production, and we expect that trend to continue.

我們與 Apple 在磁體回收、磁體生產以及共同開發方面的合作持續推進。同時，我們的工程團隊正在擴大可生產的高性能磁材牌號組合，並持續精進其基礎化學配方。與我們上季討論一致，我們正透過晶界擴散技術以及各生產階段的其他製程創新，穩步降低產品中重稀土的使用強度，並預期此趨勢將持續。

Finally, development of the 10X facility is advancing to plan. Learnings from Independence, combined with direct customer feedback, are being incorporated into final equipment selections and detailed engineering of the plant. We are leveraging that experience to bring the project forward wherever possible while maintaining the discipline required to successfully execute a project of this scale, and we remain very much on track.

最後，10X 設施的開發正按計畫推進。來自 Independence 的經驗教訓，加上客戶的直接回饋，正被納入最終設備選型與工廠細部工程設計之中。我們正運用這些經驗，在可行之處推動專案加速，同時維持成功執行此等規模專案所需的紀律，而我們仍然非常按部就班、進度如期。

Stepping back, one of the most rewarding aspects of this journey is seeing how the knowledge, experience, and capabilities we develop in one area continue to create opportunities in another. Lessons from one facility improve another. New products open additional commercial opportunities, and operational advances create entirely new avenues for growth. That gives me tremendous confidence in both the underlying value of the vertically integrated platform we are building today and the opportunities it will enable us to pursue tomorrow.

回過頭來看，這段旅程最令人欣慰的一點，是看到我們在某一領域所累積的知識、經驗與能力，如何持續在另一領域創造機會。一座設施的經驗能改善另一座設施。新產品帶來更多商業機會，而營運上的進步則開闢全新的成長途徑。這讓我對我們今日正在打造的垂直整合平台之內在價值，以及它將使我們明日得以追求之機會，充滿信心。

And with that, I'll hand it back to Jim.

接下來，我把時間交還給 Jim。

Thanks, Michael. If there's one thing I hope today's update reinforces, it is that industrial companies are not built by assembling assets. They are built by compounding capabilities. Not every quarter is linear, but over time, every quarter should leave the business a little more capable, a little more resilient, and a little more valuable than it was before. That is what we try to do at MP, and I think this quarter was another good example.

謝謝你，Michael。如果說我希望今天的更新能強化一件事，那就是：工業公司不是靠把資產拼湊在一起建立的。它們是靠能力的複利累積建立的。不是每一季都會線性成長，但長期而言，每一季都應讓企業比之前更有能力、更具韌性、也更有價值。這正是我們在 MP 努力做到的，而我認為本季又是一個很好的例子。

With that in mind, let me leave you with one broader thought. History suggests that markets often struggle to value general-purpose technologies in real time.

基於這個思路，我想留給各位一個更宏觀的想法。歷史顯示，市場往往難以及時為通用型技術定價。

During the railroad era, the age of electrification, and more recently, the telecommunications and internet era, investors understandably became consumed with the same questions. Was too much capital being invested? Would the economics justify the spending? Which companies would ultimately earn attractive returns? Those debates were important, but they often obscured where the largest long-term opportunities would ultimately emerge.

在鐵路時代、電氣化時代，以及更近的電信與網際網路時代，投資人可以理解地被同樣的問題所牽動。是否投入了過多資本？經濟效益是否足以支撐這些支出？哪些公司最終能獲得具吸引力的報酬？這些辯論很重要，但它們往往掩蓋了長期最大機會最終會在哪裡浮現。

The world itself was changing. The most enduring value was ultimately created by those who understood what the new world would require. I believe we are living through another one of those moments. Today's debate is centered on AI infrastructure and the returns on compute. That is an important discussion, and market participants should ask those questions.

世界本身正在改變。最持久的價值，最終是由那些理解新世界將需要什麼的人所創造。我相信我們正身處另一個這樣的時刻。當前的辯論聚焦在 AI 基礎設施以及算力投資報酬。那是重要的討論，市場參與者也應該提出這些問題。

But if history is any guide, the infrastructure phase of a general-purpose technology is rarely where its full economic impact becomes apparent. The larger opportunity often emerges when that infrastructure becomes pervasive enough for entrepreneurs to build businesses that redefine entire industries. I believe AI is approaching that transition. The next phase will be defined less by creating intelligence and more by deploying it into the physical economy, into machines that manufacture, move, build, transport, and defend. That transition has implications well beyond technology.

但若以歷史為鑑，通用型技術的基礎設施階段，往往不是其完整經濟影響最清楚顯現之處。更大的機會通常在基礎設施普及到足以讓創業者建立能重新定義整個產業的企業時才會出現。我相信 AI 正接近這個轉折。下一階段的重點將不再是「創造智慧」，而是把智慧部署到實體經濟中——部署到能製造、搬運、建造、運輸與防衛的機器之中。這個轉變的影響遠不止於科技領域。

Increasingly, governments recognize that the ability to build those machines and the supply chains that support them is itself a strategic capability. We believe that's a structural shift, not a cyclical one. It [reinforces] our conviction that resilient domestic production of critical materials and components will become increasingly important over the coming decade.

各國政府愈來愈認知到，打造這些機器以及支撐它們的供應鏈，本身就是一種戰略能力。我們認為這是結構性轉變，而非週期性變化。這[強化]了我們的信念：在未來十年，關鍵材料與零組件的韌性本土生產將變得愈來愈重要。

Against that backdrop, our responsibility is straightforward. We try to build capabilities that matter over decades. We do that by investing patiently, allocating capital thoughtfully, and increasingly by pairing long-term strategic partnerships with contracted (inaudible) that allow us to keep building through change. We believe that approach allows us to pursue long-term opportunities while managing risk along the way.

在這樣的背景下，我們的責任很明確。我們致力於打造在數十年尺度上都重要的能力。我們透過耐心投資、審慎配置資本，以及愈來愈多地將長期策略夥伴關係與合約化的（聽不清）相結合，讓我們能在變局中持續建設。我們相信這種做法能讓我們在管理過程風險的同時，追求長期機會。

With that, I'll open it up for questions. Operator?

接下來，我們開放提問。接線員？

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Lawson Winder, Bank of America Securities.

美國銀行證券（Bank of America Securities）的 Lawson Winder。

Thanks very much, operator. Good evening, gentlemen. Nice quarter. Great update once again.

非常感謝，接線員。各位先生晚安。本季表現不錯。再次帶來很好的更新。

If I may, I'd like to just ask about the defense contract. Congratulations on achieving the first of that. My questions would be multi-part but all related to this particular contract. To start off, would you describe this as the first of many? Where do you think it kind of goes from here?

如果可以的話，我想請教一下國防合約。恭喜你們拿下第一份。我的問題會分成幾個部分，但都與這份特定合約相關。首先，你們會把這視為眾多合約中的第一份嗎？你們認為接下來會如何發展？

And then if you could maybe speak to how contracts like this might work. So would it be spot price linked or base escalated? There's no spot price exposure. And just if it's relevant, what is the relevance or significance of gadolinium being the first mineral for this contract? Thanks very much.

另外，也請你們談談這類合約可能會如何運作。例如會與現貨價格連動，或採用基準價加成/遞增（base escalated）？是否沒有現貨價格曝險？以及如果相關的話，釓（gadolinium）作為此合約的第一個礦物，其關聯性或重要性是什麼？非常感謝。

Yeah. Thanks, Lawson. It's Ryan. I'll take that. Yeah, obviously, we're very pleased with the progress here. It was a significant offtake agreement, as Jim mentioned in his remarks. A long-term deal representing nine figures over time.

好的。謝謝你，Lawson。我是 Ryan。我來回答。是的，顯然我們對這裡的進展非常滿意。正如 Jim 在致詞中提到的，這是一份重要的承購協議（offtake agreement）。這是一份長期合約，隨時間累計金額達九位數。

Importantly, to your point on spot prices, we've locked in economics on this contract. And so I think importantly, this speaks to our ability to continue to drive incremental value out of the world-class Mountain Pass asset, the ore body, the refining assets, the intellectual capital, the know-how. This is an example of hopefully, many to come over time.

重要的是，針對你提到的現貨價格，我們已在這份合約中鎖定了經濟條件。因此我認為，這也凸顯了我們持續從世界級的 Mountain Pass 資產——礦體、精煉資產、智識資本與專業技術——中挖掘增量價值的能力。這是個例子，希望未來隨時間推進還會有更多。

The thing about this contract is the economics with this initial customer are very attractive on a standalone basis. But to your point and your question, there is an opportunity to grow volumes over time that would come at significant incremental return, given the vast majority of the capital being deployed upfront.

這份合約的重點在於：就單一客戶來看，與這位初始客戶合作的經濟性非常具吸引力。但如你所說、也如你的問題所指，隨著時間推進，我們有機會擴大出貨量；鑑於絕大部分資本支出是前期投入，後續增加的量將帶來可觀的邊際報酬。

In terms of gadolinium being sort of the first that we've announced here, as you'll recall, we had committed, in our agreements with the Department of War, to begin production of samarium in 2028. The way that we will approach separating out the dysprosium and terbium first, as Michael mentioned very shortly, that leaves us with an SEG product that we had been evaluating how to maximize the economics from that product set.

就釓（gadolinium）作為我們在此首先宣布的品項而言，如你所記得，我們在與戰爭部（Department of War）的協議中承諾，將於2028年開始生產釤（samarium）。至於我們將如何先行分離鏑（dysprosium）與鋱（terbium），正如Michael稍早提到的，這會讓我們留下SEG產品；我們一直在評估如何從這組產品組合中把經濟效益最大化。

And this was a very logical way to do that. I think that there is opportunity for us to look at the other heavy rare earths contained in the ore body over time and continue to find interesting ways to grow the earnings power of that business.

而這是一個非常合乎邏輯的做法。我認為，隨著時間推進，我們也有機會檢視礦體中所含的其他重稀土，並持續找到有趣的方法來提升該業務的獲利能力。

George Gianarikas, Canaccord Genuity.

George Gianarikas，Canaccord Genuity。

Hi, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. Maybe rebuilding a critical Material supply chain is as much a human capital challenge as it is a technical one, and this has been out in the press recently. But to what extent is the broader domestic shortage of specialized talent, whether it's engineers or metallurgists, how is that impacting your ability to scale 10X and the other facilities you have planned? Thank you.

各位好。謝謝讓我提問。也許重建關鍵材料供應鏈，在人力資本上的挑戰不亞於技術層面，這點最近媒體也有報導。但更廣泛而言，國內專業人才（不論是工程師或冶金師）的短缺，在多大程度上影響你們將10X以及其他規劃中的設施擴產的能力？謝謝。

Well, I think -- I'll start and then maybe Mike -- I mean certainly, as we look around the country and really around the world, but particularly in America, we have an enormous onshoring construction boom happening, right, particularly with AI and data centers. I mean when you think about construction, electricians, pipe fitters, runs the gamut of the trades that we need to bring a lot of this stuff online.

我想——我先回答，之後也許Mike再補充——確實，當我們放眼全國、甚至全球，但特別是在美國，我們正經歷一波龐大的回流本土（onshoring）建設熱潮，對吧，尤其是AI與資料中心帶動。你想想建設所需的人力，電工、管線裝配工等，各種工種都涵蓋在內，而我們需要把很多這類項目上線。

Getting talent to build things is hard. But this is really something that we have been focused on really since the beginning of life as a company. If you recall, we went public in the middle of COVID in 2020, and we were bringing online our refining assets. And so we've historically -- really all we know as a company is sort of fighting through challenges in supply chain talent and whatnot.

要找到能把東西蓋起來的人才很難。但這其實是我們自公司成立之初就一直專注的事情。如果你還記得，我們在2020年COVID期間上市，同時也在讓我們的精煉資產上線。因此我們過去一直——可以說公司一路走來所熟悉的，就是在供應鏈、人力等挑戰中一路闖關。

With respect to maybe more specific talent, I mean, yes, this is a capability that has not really existed in the country, certainly not on a vertically integrated basis. And it's something that we've been at from the beginning, whether it's at the mine, the refinery, or in building the Magnetics business.

至於更具體的人才面向，我的意思是，是的，這種能力在國內其實並不存在，至少在垂直整合的層面更是如此。而我們從一開始就一直在投入，不論是在礦山、精煉廠，或是在打造磁材（Magnetics）業務。

Michael, I don't know if you want to add anything about the engineers and talent.

Michael，我不知道你是否想補充一些關於工程師與人才的看法。

Yeah. I think we -- finding talented people who have experience is -- there's a limited pool of those in this country and in the world. We try to make ourselves an attractive place to work, empower people to do really interesting and exciting things, and give them a lot of resources. So we hope through that to be the employer of choice in this industry. And I think we're really, really proud of the team that we've built.

是的。我想——要找到有經驗的優秀人才——在這個國家以及全世界，這樣的人才庫都很有限。我們努力讓自己成為一個有吸引力的工作場所，賦權讓大家去做非常有趣、令人興奮的事情，並提供大量資源。因此我們希望藉此成為這個產業的首選雇主。而且我想我們對所建立的團隊感到非常、非常自豪。

Yeah. And one thing, I actually used to say this way back when in the very beginning, when we were first public, talent begets talent, scale begets scale. If you look at the business that we've built, whether it's contracted cash flows from GM, Apple, the Department of War, this new big customer announcement today, we certainly have built the momentum as a company.

是的。還有一點，我其實在很早以前、我們剛上市時就常這麼說：人才會吸引人才，規模會帶來規模。如果你看我們建立起來的業務，不論是來自GM、Apple、戰爭部（Department of War）的合約現金流，或是今天宣布的這位新的大型客戶，我們確實已經在公司層面建立了動能。

And we have a lot of people who want to join us on this mission. So we have a lot to build, but it's easier today than it was a few years ago because people know who we are and believe in what we're doing, and know that the assets that we're creating are long-term and priceless to some extent.

而且有很多人想加入我們的使命。所以我們還有很多要建，但相較幾年前，現在更容易，因為大家知道我們是誰、相信我們在做的事，也知道我們正在打造的資產是長期的，某種程度上甚至是無可取代的。

Thank you. And if I may ask a follow-up. As your perspective customers evaluate capacity at 10X, how are those allocation conversations progressing regarding pricing structure? Are partners willing to agree to things like pricing floors or upfront capital prepayments to preserve and reserve future production slots? Thank you.

謝謝。如果我可以追問。當你們的潛在客戶評估10X的產能時，關於配額分配（allocation）的討論在定價結構方面進展如何？合作夥伴是否願意同意例如價格底線（pricing floors）或前期資本預付款（upfront capital prepayments），以保留並預訂未來的產能名額？謝謝。

It's an excellent question. I think this is really a question for us because we -- when I look at all of the conversations we're having and the potential demand that we see, I don't lose any sleep about filling out the demand for this facility. I think if we look across -- I'll give you a simple example. If we think about physical AI and all of the growth that we expect, if we were to -- and you can see many other companies talk about the robotics industry, right? If we were to be producing, say, 30 or 40 million humanoid robots a year in the world, that alone would eat up 100% of the rare earth magnet production globally, including China.

這是個很棒的問題。我認為這對我們來說其實是個問題，因為——當我看我們正在進行的所有對話，以及我們看到的潛在需求時，我完全不擔心這座設施的需求填滿問題。我舉個簡單例子。如果我們想到實體AI（physical AI）以及我們預期的成長，你也可以看到很多公司在談機器人產業，對吧？如果全世界一年要生產例如3,000萬到4,000萬台人形機器人，光是這一項就會吃掉全球稀土磁鐵產量的100%，包含中國在內。

And so when you think about that for a moment, and obviously, the Chinese are going to make a lot of robots, and by the way, we're going to make cars. We're going to make data centers. We're going to make electronics. We're going to make all sorts of things.

所以你稍微想一下，當然，中國會製造很多機器人；而且順帶一提，我們也會造車。我們會建資料中心。我們會做電子產品。我們會做各式各樣的東西。

And so there's a lot of demand to come. I actually think that we'll have the ability to be somewhat of a kingmaker in a couple of verticals. And so that is something that we think about, and we're in the good position to be thoughtful because we can be patient because as it stands today, we have everything fully contracted if that's what we want.

因此未來需求會非常龐大。我其實認為，我們將有能力在幾個垂直領域扮演某種「造王者」的角色。這也是我們會思考的事情；而我們也處在一個有利位置，可以更審慎地做決策，因為我們可以有耐心——就目前而言，如果我們想要的話，我們可以把一切都完全簽約鎖定。

Lastly, what I would say is that's sort of some of the logic around Project Swarm. Although we are capitalists, we are first and foremost patriots. And when we look around the world today, certainly it's quite obvious that drones are at least a portion of the future of warfare. And what we have today developing in the American supply chain is we have dozens of companies, and we talk to them. We have a number that are customers now as part of this project.

最後我想說，這也是「Swarm計畫（Project Swarm）」背後的一部分邏輯。雖然我們是資本主義者，但我們首先是愛國者。而當我們放眼當今世界，很明顯無人機至少會是未來戰爭形態的一部分。而在我們今天正在發展的美國供應鏈中，有數十家公司，我們也與他們交流。其中有一些公司現在已經是這個計畫的一部分客戶。

But we have dozens of companies that are getting backed by many billions of dollars, and they're trying to innovate. But individually, it's immaterial demand. The entire American drone industry would still be materially smaller than just our GM business as it stands today. Now that's going to change over the next 5 or 10 years.

但我們接觸到的公司有數十家，它們獲得了數十億美元的資金支持，並試圖創新。但就單一公司而言，需求量並不具規模。即便把整個美國無人機產業加總起來，其規模仍將明顯小於我們目前的GM業務。當然，這在未來5到10年會改變。

But the point is that we have a unique position and a duty to work with everybody to [coordinate], to standardize magnetic grades around the DoW preferred grades that we're going to be producing at 10X. And so we're just taking the lead in helping coordinate that so that we know that the American companies -- we don't know who will be the winner, but we want to make sure that any innovating company in America knows that the supply chain will be there for them.

但重點是，我們處在一個獨特的位置，也有責任與所有人合作來[協調]，並圍繞我們將在10X生產、符合戰爭部（DoW）偏好等級的磁材等級進行標準化。因此我們正主動帶頭協助推動這種協調，讓我們能確保美國公司——我們不知道誰會勝出，但我們希望任何在美國創新的公司都知道，供應鏈會在那裡支持他們。

MP will be there for them. And so before we sell out the whole facility, so to speak, tongue in cheek, I just want to make sure that the instruments of warfare and national security are taken care of. And so that was sort of some of the thinking behind that. And obviously, that's underway. We have a number of companies that are already signed up, and that should also provide some fruitful opportunities as we grow our business.

MP 會在那裡支持他們。因此，在我們把整個設施「賣光」之前——開個玩笑——我只是想確保戰爭與國家安全所需的工具都能被妥善照顧。這大概就是背後的一些思考。而且很明顯，這項工作正在推進中。我們已經有多家公司簽約，隨著我們業務成長，這也應該會帶來一些很有成果的機會。

Max Yerrill, BMO.

Max Yerrill，BMO。

Why don't we skip Max and come back to him?

我們先跳過 Max，等一下再回到他那邊，好嗎？

Not a problem. Brian Lee, Goldman Sachs & Co.

沒問題。Brian Lee，Goldman Sachs & Co.。

Hey, guys. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. I have a two-part question. So I'll just ask it all at once.

嗨，各位。下午好。謝謝讓我提問。我有一個兩部分的問題。所以我就一次把它問完。

On this new offtake for gadolinium, congrats on that. Just maybe high level sense of capacity for more heavies offtakes, just what are the other heavies you could see offtakes on? Where are you having the most engagement today?

關於這個新的釓（gadolinium）承購協議，恭喜你們。想請你們從較高層次談談：未來是否還有更多重稀土承購的產能空間？你們還可能在哪些其他重稀土上達成承購？目前你們在哪些領域的互動最為密切？

And then secondly, how to think about those and the economics for those in the context of the nine-digit type deal here you're announcing for gadolinium specifically. Thanks, guys.

第二個問題是，該如何在你們這次針對釓所宣布的這種九位數規模交易背景下，去理解這些承購以及其經濟性？謝謝各位。

Hey, thanks, Brian. It's Ryan. On that front, I mentioned obviously that we are underway on the samarium program that Michael gave an update on. And so that is certainly an area where we intend to continue to commercialize that business and respond to the demand that we're seeing in that space.

嗨，謝謝你，Brian。我是 Ryan。就這方面而言，我剛才提到，我們顯然正在推進釤（samarium）計畫，Michael 也已經更新了進度。因此，這確實是我們打算持續將該業務商業化、並回應我們在該領域所看到需求的一個方向。

Certainly, I think that there is opportunity for follow-on volume beyond this existing contract on the gadolinium side. There are a number of critical use cases for these products. And it's interesting to see what's going on in the market today. You're seeing large aerospace companies announce difficulties in their supply chain from what they explain as very tiny parts.

當然，我認為在釓這一端，除了這份既有合約之外，還有機會取得後續的額外量。這些產品有許多關鍵的使用情境。而且觀察目前市場的情況也很有意思。你會看到大型航太公司宣布其供應鏈出現困難，而他們解釋原因是一些非常微小的零件。

And I think the reality is it speaks to how critical some of these materials are powering hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of value downstream of them. And so we expect to continue to see pretty exciting growth opportunities just within that element.

我想現實是，這反映出其中某些材料有多麼關鍵——它們在下游支撐著數億乃至數十億美元的價值。因此，我們預期僅在這個元素上，就會持續看到相當令人振奮的成長機會。

You've got the periodic table, so you know all the other elements that are in the ore body. But certainly, we think yttrium is another opportunity set. We will be producing a yttrium product and are looking at different ways to maximize the value of that output from the ore body as well. So certainly more to come on that front.

你有元素週期表，所以你知道礦體裡還有哪些其他元素。但我們確實認為釔（yttrium）是另一個機會領域。我們將會生產釔產品，也正在研究不同方式，以最大化礦體產出中該部分的價值。所以這方面後續還會有更多消息。

And let me just add one more thing. I want to hit on what Ryan just said because I think it's really important. There are no heavies getting out of China, or very limited, and magnets are on a licensing basis. And we are in a regime right now of controlled scarcity. So people are sort of getting fed just in time.

我再補充一點。我想呼應 Ryan 剛才說的，因為我認為這非常重要。目前幾乎沒有重稀土從中國流出，或是流出量非常有限，而磁材則是採取許可制。我們現在處於一種「受控的稀缺」狀態。所以大家某種程度上是被以即時供應（just in time）的方式餵給。

And what that's actually creating, and we're seeing this behind the scenes with many companies that we talk to, is there's a lot of concern. I mean there's disruption in the supply chain. Obviously, AI is getting all the headlines. But if you look through, and maybe in the coming days, there'll be some reporting or some analyst reports on this, but if you look through the industrial supply chain, particularly in aerospace, we are seeing real disruption.

而這實際上造成的情況——我們在幕後與許多公司交流時也看得到——是大家非常擔憂。也就是供應鏈正在被擾亂。顯然，AI 佔據了所有頭條。但如果你深入看工業供應鏈，特別是在航太領域，我們正看到真正的中斷。

It's not full on panic yet, but it's real disruption from allocations that have to happen due to scarcity. So I do think that's going to open up, and obviously we see it here, the beginning of it, but that's going to really open up some interesting opportunities for us. And it's also something that we need to pay attention to because uneasy detente is not necessarily a condition where we can just sort of be relaxed in this supply chain. It's still very challenging out there.

目前還沒有全面恐慌，但確實因為稀缺而必須進行配給，導致實質性的供應鏈擾動。所以我確實認為這將會打開——而且我們在這裡顯然已經看到一些端倪——一些對我們而言很有意思的機會。同時這也是我們需要留意的事情，因為「不安的緩和」並不代表我們可以在這條供應鏈上放鬆。外部環境仍然非常具挑戰性。

Max Yerrill, BMO.

Max Yerrill，BMO。

Hey, guys. I think this works now. So very fitting for the (inaudible) as always. With the recent US government announcement and them banning the export of magnet scrap, is this changing how you're thinking about developing recycling capacity? And have you seen any new customer inquiries into potentially adding more magnet recycling capacity? Thanks.

嗨，各位。我想現在可以了。所以一如既往，這對（聽不清）來說很貼切。隨著近期美國政府宣布禁止出口磁材廢料，這是否改變了你們對發展回收產能的思考？你們是否看到任何新客戶詢問，可能要增加更多磁材回收產能？謝謝。

Thanks for the question. It's Michael. I think recycling has been a part of our vertically integrated strategy for some time. Obviously, we announced the agreement with Apple last year. But this has been part of a challenge throughout the world, which is shipment of critical minerals or byproducts in magnet and also battery supply chains have been challenging, and it creates a problem of supply availability.

謝謝你的問題。我是 Michael。我認為回收在我們的垂直整合策略中已經是其中一部分有一段時間了。很明顯，我們去年宣布了與 Apple 的協議。但這一直是全球面臨的一項挑戰：在磁材以及電池供應鏈中，關鍵礦物或副產品的運輸一直很困難，這會造成供應可得性的問題。

Recycling is not just doing the processing, it's also the collection and the aggregation, pre-processing, removal from other parts of the assemblies. This will just highlight the importance of the work that we're doing. We've definitely seen a lot of interest in recycling. Our primary focus is dealing with the process waste from our independence and 10X in supporting Apple, but we are looking at scaling that business in line with the market conditions.

回收不只是做處理，還包括收集與彙整、前處理，以及從組件的其他部分中拆解移除。這只會更加凸顯我們正在做的工作的重要性。我們確實看到市場對回收有很高的興趣。我們的主要重點是處理來自我們 Independence 與 10X 的製程廢料，以支援 Apple，但我們也在依市場狀況評估擴大這項業務的規模。

Richard Garchitorena, Barclays.

Richard Garchitorena，Barclays。

Hi, and congratulations on all progress. My first question is on the commissioning of the Dy/Tb circuit that's underway. Is that basically going to be incrementally adding any costs for the second half of this year?

嗨，也恭喜你們所有的進展。我的第一個問題是關於正在進行的 Dy/Tb（鏑/鋱）迴路試車（commissioning）。這是否會在今年下半年帶來任何增量成本？

You also had semiannual maintenance in April. I was wondering if that had any impact on the cost this quarter. So really, it's a function of how much do you think cost could potentially improve in the second half?

你們在四月也做了半年度維護。我想知道那是否對本季成本有任何影響。所以歸根結底，是你們認為下半年成本可能改善多少的問題。

Yeah, sure, Richard, it's Ryan. I'll take that. As it relates to the heavy rare earth circuit, certainly, I think we've talked about investments that are apparent in the P&L right now. You mentioned two of the most critical ones, the maintenance outage and staffing ahead of heavy rare earth production. If you look at how that will take shape over the course of the rest of the year from a heavy rare earth perspective on dysprosium and terbium, that will make its way into inventory and then find its way down to in-process, and ultimately we'll recognize the value of those products through magnet sales.

好的，當然，Richard，我是 Ryan。我來回答。就重稀土迴路而言，我想我們已經談過一些目前在損益表（P&L）上可見的投資。你提到其中兩個最關鍵的：維護停機，以及為重稀土生產提前配置人力。如果你看今年剩餘期間在鏑與鋱的重稀土面向會如何展開，這些成本會先進入存貨，接著進入在製品，最終我們會透過磁材銷售來認列這些產品的價值。

And so once we get into full-scale commercial production and we are inventorying those costs, that will come out of the P&L until we ultimately recognize the magnet sale. But in terms of what I think you're getting at an overall cost position in the business, I think we feel increasingly confident that the path to lowering our cost structure is very clear. I think we've said consistently that we need to be operating consistently at our target production levels, and that will give us the benefit of the fixed cost absorption math that we've walked through previously.

因此，一旦我們進入全面商業化量產並將這些成本存貨化，它們就會先從損益表中移出，直到我們最終認列磁材銷售為止。但就你所關切的整體成本狀況而言，我們愈來愈有信心，降低成本結構的路徑非常清晰。我想我們一直都在說，我們需要穩定地以目標產量水準運作，這將帶來我們先前說明過的固定成本吸收效益。

Beyond that, we see pretty clear opportunities to improve process efficiency, reduce maintenance intensity, and then certainly, as we've talked about, we expect some pretty tangible benefits from bringing chlor-alkali online. In terms of timing of those, we expect those benefits to build progressively through '27 as we consistently produce at a more targeted throughput.

除此之外，我們也看到相當明確的機會可以提升流程效率、降低維護強度；而且如同我們先前談到的，隨著氯鹼（chlor-alkali）裝置上線，我們預期將帶來一些相當具體、可量化的效益。就這些效益的時程而言，我們預期在我們持續以更符合目標的處理量穩定生產的情況下，這些效益將一路逐步累積到 2027 年。

Great. Thank you for that color. And as a follow-up, maybe bigger picture, congratulations again on the signing of the long-term offtake for gadolinium. Can you maybe talk about -- in the prepared remarks, talked about how demand continues to increase. So should we expect maybe a stronger cadence of new contracts and new announcements?

很好。謝謝你提供這些補充說明。另外作為追問、從更宏觀的角度來看，也再次恭喜你們簽下針對釓（gadolinium）的長期承購（offtake）協議。你能否談談——在事先準備的講稿中提到需求持續增加。那我們是否應該預期新合約與新公告的節奏會更強、更密集一些？

Just curious about negotiations. Are they picking up? Or are you getting more inbound incremental demand for capacity that would suggest you probably need to expand from here?

我也想了解一下談判的情況。談判是否正在加速？或者你們是否收到更多主動上門、增量的產能需求，這可能意味著你們大概需要在此基礎上進一步擴產？

Well, one thing I would say, we covered this quite a bit on the last call, but I think I have a feeling we'll be continuing to cover it over coming quarters. But I remain convicted in the view that NdPr is the binding constraint. As we look around the world today, we see a lot of magnet facilities intending to come online. A lot of -- there's a number of groups out there that are investing, trying to put things together.

我想先說一點：我們在上一通電話會議已經談了不少，但我有種感覺，接下來幾個季度我們還會持續談這個主題。不過我仍然堅信，NdPr（釹鐠）才是最關鍵的瓶頸約束。放眼當今全球，我們看到有很多磁材工廠計畫要上線。也有很多——有不少團隊正在投資、嘗試把各項要素整合到位。

And when we talk to companies in the downstream and we look at the markets, I mean every -- there are a number of verticals, right? Whether it's magnetics or in the beginning of the question, you were referencing heavies. I would say it goes back to the point I was previously making about controlled scarcity, which is sort of the state of the world right now.

當我們與下游公司交流、並觀察市場時，我的意思是——有很多終端領域，對吧？不論是磁性材料，或是你在問題一開始提到的重稀土（heavies）。我會說這又回到我先前提到的「受控稀缺」這個觀點——這大概就是目前世界的狀態。

That is not an acceptable state, and again, as we referenced earlier, you're seeing in the aerospace industry today. I think just as an example, and not to [pick on] Honeywell, Aerospace lost a quarter of their value today in what they referenced on their call was a $15 million upstream in the supply chain. And so that gives you, when you're talking about a company that's going to lose $15 billion of market cap over $10 million or $15 million of upstream supply from a supplier to one of their suppliers, that is the extent of the problem.

那不是一個可接受的狀態；而且如同我們先前提到的，你今天在航太產業也看得到。我想舉例說明一下，並不是要[針對] Honeywell：Honeywell Aerospace 今天市值跌掉了四分之一，他們在電話會議上提到的原因，是供應鏈上游出現了 1,500 萬美元的問題。所以，當你談到一家公司的市值會因為其供應商的供應商那邊上游少了 1,000 萬或 1,500 萬美元的供應，就可能蒸發 150 億美元的市值——這就是問題的嚴重程度。

And so that's a long-winded way of saying it's really in every vertical. It's in the heavies. But again, I think in magnets -- and I reference this with robotics and I try to temper it because nobody knows when and how these things come online, but take AI and memory for an example. But when ChatGPT hit the market, Micron had a $50 billion enterprise value.

所以，長話短說，這其實存在於每一個終端領域。也包括重稀土。但再說一次，我認為在磁材方面——我也會用機器人來類比，同時我會稍微保守一點，因為沒有人知道這些事情何時、以及如何上線——可以拿 AI 與記憶體作為例子。當 ChatGPT 剛進入市場時，美光（Micron）的企業價值大約是 500 億美元。

Three years later, all of a sudden, people woke up to a dramatic memory squeeze, and it's a trillion now. Obviously, these are very different industries, the kind of stuff that I do think is going to happen as more of these physical AI use cases come online. I just don't know which one will happen first, but that's the kind of thing that we're seeing. And so again, with respect to magnets, which is obviously the vast, vast majority of our business, I think NdPr is the binding constraint for all that we see for the foreseeable future.

三年後，突然之間，人們意識到記憶體供給出現了劇烈的擠壓，現在已經到了一兆美元。當然，這些是非常不同的產業；但我確實認為，隨著更多「實體 AI」的應用場景上線，類似的事情會發生。我只是不知道會先在哪一個領域發生，但這就是我們正在看到的趨勢。因此，再回到磁材——這顯然占我們業務的絕大多數——就我們可預見的未來而言，我認為 NdPr（釹鐠）會是所有需求的瓶頸約束。

Corinne Blanchard, Deutsche Bank.

Corinne Blanchard，德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. I would say most of my questions have probably been answered, but maybe we can go back on the quarter itself and your view going into 3Q. You just -- so I think you had maybe a higher than expected Material segment performance this quarter, which did impact a little bit the cost. Can you just maybe talk about how we should think about that going into 3Q and 4Q?

嗨，大家下午好。我想我的大多數問題可能都已經被回答了，但也許我們可以回到這一季本身，以及你們對進入第三季（3Q）的看法。你們這一季材料（Material）部門的表現可能高於預期，這也在成本端造成了一點影響。你能否談談，我們在看第三季與第四季（4Q）時，應該如何理解這件事？

Yeah, sure, Corinne, it's Ryan. I think from a sales perspective, I think sort of dovetailing off of what Jim said, certainly demand for NdPr remains extremely strong. I think we were fortunate to be able to continue to ramp up available capacity for metallization and things like that to continue the cadence of sales within Q2.

好的，當然，Corinne，我是 Ryan。從銷售角度來看，延續 Jim 剛才所說的，NdPr（釹鐠）的需求確實仍然非常強勁。我們很幸運能夠持續提升金屬化（metallization）等環節的可用產能，讓我們在第二季（Q2）能夠維持銷售節奏。

I mentioned in my prepared remarks, likely a flattish volume sequentially. A lot of that, of course, really depends on shipment timing, lead times for metallization, and things of that nature. So it is always a bit lumpy, but that's generally what we're seeing from a sequential performance perspective.

我在事先準備的講稿中提到，出貨量按季（sequentially）可能大致持平。其中很大一部分當然取決於出貨時點、金屬化的交期，以及諸如此類的因素。所以它一向會有些起伏不均，但就按季表現而言，這大致是我們目前看到的情況。

We've talked in the past about the fact that as we scale production, ultimately we will continue to build the ultimate tonnage of product within the channel, given the fact that we have multiple outlets to market. And so you should expect as we grow production over the next several quarters. Eventually we will need to fill that channel back up to support the higher volume levels. But that's generally what we're seeing in the short term.

我們過去談過：當我們擴大生產規模時，考量到我們有多個市場銷售出口，最終我們會持續在通路中建立（累積）產品的最終總噸數。因此，當我們在未來幾個季度提升產量時，你應該預期——最終我們需要把通路庫存再補回來，以支撐更高的出貨量水準。但短期來看，大致就是我們目前看到的狀況。

Thank you. Maybe going back to the China export ban. Do you expect any maybe impact on the reagent or cost coming from the export ban list? Or do you expect very minimal impact?

謝謝。再回到中國出口禁令。你們是否預期出口禁令清單會對試劑（reagent）或成本帶來任何影響？還是你們預期影響非常有限？

From our perspective, we expect minimal impact given everything you know about us, I don't think any of this came as a shock probably to us or to anyone out there. And so we've been thoughtfully preparing our supply chain to be resilient for a very, very long time. And so the team has done an excellent job on sourcing there. But we don't see any immediate impact.

就我們的角度而言，基於你對我們的了解，我們預期影響有限；我想這些事情對我們或對外界任何人而言，大概都不算意外。因此，我們很長一段時間以來一直在有計畫地打造具韌性的供應鏈。團隊在採購與來源配置方面做得非常出色。但我們沒有看到任何立即性的影響。

Carlos de Alba, MS.

Carlos de Alba，摩根士丹利（MS）。

Yeah. Thank you. Good afternoon, guys. Good to see the progress that you are making. On GM, encouraging to know that the initial commercial magnet deliveries will start later in the year. Just wanted to see if you can provide any color from what you have been hearing from them regarding the early qualification and testing that they may have already done with your magnets.

是的。謝謝。各位下午好。很高興看到你們正在取得的進展。關於通用汽車（GM），得知今年稍晚將開始初期的商業磁鐵交付，令人鼓舞。我想了解一下，你們從他們那邊聽到的情況是如何：他們是否已經用你們的磁鐵做了一些早期的認證（qualification）與測試？能否提供一些補充說明？

Yeah. Sure, Carlos, it's Ryan. We're overall extremely pleased with the progress we've been making with General Motors and with our engagement with them. I think it's important that folks understand the qualification process here is not about whether you're making a magnet to spec. That's a tiny piece of it. It's about staging capacity as we ramp, and then versus the needs at the individual motor plants.

是的。當然，Carlos，我是 Ryan。整體而言，我們對與通用汽車的合作進展，以及我們與他們的互動參與，都感到非常滿意。我認為重要的是讓大家理解：這裡的認證流程並不只是看你能不能把磁鐵做得符合規格。那只是一小部分。更重要的是在我們爬坡擴產時如何分階段配置產能，並與各個馬達工廠的需求相匹配。

It's ensuring batch traceability and quality systems of ours are integrated with our customer systems. And then certainly, kind of to your point, it's about having our customer observe ultimately the impact to the overall systems across the vehicle when they do a part swap. And so that is a long and painstaking process, but the results that we've been seeing are extremely encouraging. And so as we reiterated, our current expectation is to begin regular production deliveries sometime in the fourth quarter.

這也包括確保批次可追溯性（batch traceability），以及我們的品質系統能與客戶系統完成整合。此外，正如你所提到的，還包括當他們進行零件替換（part swap）時，讓客戶最終能觀察到對整車整體系統所造成的影響。因此，這是一個漫長且非常繁瑣的流程，但我們目前看到的結果非常令人鼓舞。所以如同我們重申的，我們目前的預期是在第四季某個時間點開始進行常態化的量產交付。

All right. Okay, good. And then maybe, I don't know, Michael, I was intrigued by the planned reagent trial that you guys did. Can you maybe provide more color, particularly on the benefits, the potential increase in cost that you mentioned, and the timing of deployment?

好。好的，很好。接著也許，我不確定，Michael，我對你們做的那個計畫中的試劑試驗很感興趣。你能否再多補充一些細節，特別是你提到的效益、成本可能增加的幅度，以及部署時程？

Thanks, Carlos. We regularly do the trials of different reagents to ensure resiliency and flexibility. Though this quarter is probably a bigger one than we've done in some time. I would say, as you know, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is we recycle all the water in our flotation process from our tailings. So preserving the quality of that is an important consideration.

謝謝你，Carlos。我們會定期進行不同試劑的試驗，以確保韌性與彈性。不過這一季的規模可能比我們一段時間以來做過的都更大。我想你也知道，我們引以為傲的一點是：在浮選流程中，我們會把尾礦中的水全部回收再利用。因此，維持水質是一個重要的考量。

We do expect to make a change in our reagents later this year. The direct cost of the reagent is somewhat higher than our legacy product, but we think the overall benefits outweigh that. We're looking forward to the change. Overall, we're positive on that change and that the flotation results will be excellent.

我們預期會在今年稍晚更換試劑。該試劑的直接成本確實比我們既有產品略高，但我們認為整體效益足以抵消。我們很期待這次更換。整體而言，我們對這項變更持正面看法，也相信浮選結果會非常出色。

Maybe just to add up on that, this reagent supplier or reagent Material that you're going to use are not from China whatsoever, right?

我想再追問一下，你們要使用的這家試劑供應商或試劑材料，完全不是來自中國，對吧？

Correct.

正確。

Bill Peterson, J.P. Morgan.

Bill Peterson，摩根大通。

Hello, can you hear me?

你好，你聽得到我嗎？

Yes.

聽得到。

Okay. Yeah. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. Nice job on the quarterly execution.

好的。嗯。各位好。謝謝讓我提問。本季執行表現很不錯。

Understanding that you expect NdPr to be the long-term bottleneck, as you discussed many times. But overlaying that with the, I guess, tightness of really multiple materials in the near term that you also described. You have your SEG Plus, which can address some of the materials, but how does that inform your expectations of procuring other heavies that may be in short supply given the export restrictions? Are you -- would you still be evaluating acquiring other assets or upsizing recycling efforts, which was something that was mentioned in a prior question?

我理解你們預期 NdPr 會是長期的瓶頸，這點你們已多次討論。但同時你們也提到，短期內其實多種材料都相當吃緊。你們有 SEG Plus，可以解決部分材料的問題，但在出口限制之下，這對你們取得其他可能短缺的重稀土的預期有何影響？你們是否仍會評估收購其他資產或擴大回收再利用的投入？這在先前的提問中也有提到。

Hi, Bill. It's Michael. Thanks for the question. I think what we've been saying for some time is that we've built a heavy rare separation circuit that has the ability to process third-party feedstocks. And we also have a site that is capable of handling feedstocks of different type and purity. We think that gives us a lot of flexibility.

嗨，Bill。我是 Michael。謝謝你的問題。我想我們一段時間以來一直在說的是：我們已建置一套重稀土分離產線，具備處理第三方原料的能力。而且我們也有一個場址，能夠處理不同類型與不同純度的原料。我們認為這讓我們具備很大的彈性。

Certainly terbium and dysprosium have been the focus for obvious reasons. But we expect to bring in other heavies with that basket. And we've designed for a certain mix of different samarium, gadolinium, terbium, yttrium, et cetera. And to the extent, these are valuable and wanted by the market. We're looking at ways to process those.

當然，鋱（terbium）和鏑（dysprosium）因為顯而易見的原因一直是焦點。但我們預期也會在這個組合中導入其他重稀土。我們的設計是為了處理一定比例的不同元素組合，例如釤（samarium）、釓（gadolinium）、鋱、釔（yttrium）等等。只要這些在市場上具有價值且有需求，我們就會尋找方法來加工處理它們。

All right. Thanks, Michael.

了解。謝謝你，Michael。

And as far as overall heavies, I do want to stress that we've talked about this a couple quarters, but we've made remarkable strides in reducing heavies needed as we've advanced our intellectual property and our manufacturing processes and expertise. And the -- what I would also say is that where we see the big demand use cases in the industry are essentially, if not no heavy, the vast, vast majority of demand is no heavy. And by that I mean, for example, robotics would be one, but disk drives are another. And there are a number of use cases.

至於整體重稀土，我確實想強調：我們過去幾季談過這點，但隨著我們在智慧財產與製造流程、以及專業能力的推進，我們在降低所需重稀土用量方面取得了顯著進展。另外我也想說的是，我們看到產業中需求最大的應用情境，基本上是「不需要重稀土」，即便不是完全不需要，也絕大多數需求是不含重稀土。我的意思是，例如機器人是一個，硬碟也是另一個。還有許多其他應用情境。

So I think that it's -- I'm not going to say 100% because obviously we will do some national security-oriented items and we've talked about drones. But I think that by the time 10X comes online, the vast majority of that facility will be no heavies or very limited heavies. And obviously, anything can change and we're flexible and prepared to adapt, and we do see a variety of feedstock opportunities around the world.

所以我認為——我不會說 100%，因為我們顯然會做一些以國安為導向的項目，我們也談過無人機。但我認為到 10X 上線時，該設施的絕大部分產能將會是不含重稀土或僅需非常有限的重稀土。當然，任何事情都可能改變，我們具備彈性並準備好調整；同時我們也在全球看到各式各樣的原料來源機會。

And so I don't want you to come away as if we're not concerned about, frankly, everything, because we've been around this long enough to know that things can change quickly. But to the extent that it's being marketed out there, as a reason to invest or a binding constraint, I still go back to Andy. If you want to make rare earth magnets and you want to make rare earth magnets for the vast majority of demand use cases, particularly the ones that will be attractive margin business, I think that it's going to be about your ability to create a scaled factory with precision manufacturing. Great intellectual property, and it's going to be likely no heavies, at least from an MP standpoint.

因此我不希望你們以為我們不擔心——坦白說，我們對所有事情都會關注，因為我們在這個產業待得夠久，知道情勢可能很快改變。但就外界把它拿來行銷、作為投資理由或視為硬性限制而言，我仍回到 Andy 的觀點：如果你想做稀土磁鐵，而且是為了絕大多數的需求應用情境——尤其是那些具吸引力、毛利較高的業務——我認為關鍵會在於你是否有能力打造具規模的工廠並進行精密製造。再加上強大的智慧財產，而從 MP 的角度來看，很可能是不需要重稀土，至少是這樣。

Yeah, thanks for that. That's actually the lead-in to the next question. You mentioned earlier about the grain boundary diffusion and kind of low or no heavy magnet developments. Is there any milestones or data points you can share in terms of how these magnets are performing compared to conventional magnets? Just I think it'd be helpful for investors and just to be able to measure your progress on these developments.

好的，謝謝你的說明。這其實也正好帶到下一個問題。你先前提到晶界擴散（grain boundary diffusion）以及低重稀土或無重稀土磁鐵的開發。就這些磁鐵相較於傳統磁鐵的表現，你是否能分享任何里程碑或數據點？我想這會對投資人很有幫助，也能用來衡量你們在這些開發上的進展。

I think magnets are produced to meet certain performance requirements and specifications, and so our products are meeting and exceeding the specifications of our customer and the requirements, not just for Magnetic performance, but also temperature performance. Rust, other factors are considered in that. I think we're really proud of the quality of what we're producing. We're waiting for additional qualification.

我認為磁鐵是依照特定的性能要求與規格來生產的，因此我們的產品正在達到並超越客戶的規格與需求，不僅是磁性表現，也包括耐溫表現。此外也會考量防鏽等其他因素。我們對目前生產的品質感到非常自豪。我們正在等待進一步的認證（qualification）。

To the extent the question is like the impact of GBD, it's not just GBD that's the factor. The design, the chemistry, the microstructure, the grain alignment, all these things go into the performance of the magnet. And those are the things that we've built a large team of 100 plus engineers and a lot of intellectual property to develop and to continue to develop. And so we're quite pleased with that.

如果問題是在問晶界擴散（GBD）的影響，其實不只是 GBD 這一個因素。設計、化學配方、微觀結構、晶粒取向（grain alignment）等，這些都會影響磁鐵的性能。而這些正是我們建立了一支超過 100 位工程師的大型團隊，以及大量智慧財產來開發並持續精進的領域。因此我們對此相當滿意。

Yeah, and just hitting on that. Yeah, I was just going to say, remember that, Michael's referenced this, customers don't buy a mix. Customers aren't interested in a mix of what your formulas are. They just want you to hit a spec. And so to the extent that you can use a variety of processes, GBD, manufacturing, precision, et cetera, to improve how you can deliver that, that's really going to be the name of the game.

是的，再補充一下。我只是想說，記得 Michael 也提過，客戶買的不是「配方組合」。客戶不在乎你的配方是怎麼混的。他們只要你達到規格。因此，只要你能運用各種流程——GBD、製造、精密加工等等——來提升你交付規格的能力，這才是關鍵所在。

Derick Ma, TD Cowen.

Derick Ma，TD Cowen。

Thank you for taking the question. I appreciate the commentary on security of supply concerns from automotive, industrial defense, and other potential counterparties. But we haven't yet seen an acceleration in new magnetics contracts. Why do you think that is? And what do you think needs to happen in the industry to turn those strong demand signals into firm contracts for Independence and 10X?

謝謝讓我提問。我很感謝你們對汽車、工業國防以及其他潛在交易對手在供應安全疑慮方面的評論。但我們尚未看到新的磁材合約加速簽訂。你認為原因是什麼？你覺得產業需要發生什麼事，才能把這些強勁的需求訊號轉化為 Independence 與 10X 的確定合約？

I'm sorry. Maybe I'm confused at the premise of the question. Independence is fully sold out between GM and Apple. It's possible that we'll fit another customer or two in there.

抱歉。也許我對這個問題的前提有點困惑。GM 和 Apple 之間的 Independence 產能已經完全售罄。我們有可能再塞進一兩個客戶。

And then 10X is 100% contracted with the Department of War. It's likely that as we start to bring that facility online, we will end up contracting almost all of that capacity to industry as opposed to the Department of War. But maybe I'm confused at the question. You're saying we're not contracted? Or what are you trying to --?

然後 10X 已與戰爭部（Department of War）100% 簽約。很可能當我們開始讓那座設施上線時，我們最終會把幾乎所有產能改為與產業客戶簽約，而不是戰爭部。但也許我對問題有點困惑。你是說我們沒有簽約嗎？還是你想要--？

I guess those industrial and automotive and other contracts could take the place of the Defense --Department of War contract. And it's kind of a guarantee of EBITDA, but are you seeing the demand coming from those sources that could replace the contract in 10X, I guess is what I'm asking?

我想那些工業、汽車以及其他合約，可能可以取代國防——戰爭部的合約。這有點像是 EBITDA 的保證，但我想問的是：你們是否看到來自那些來源的需求，足以在 10X 取代該合約？

Yeah. This is Ryan. I think certainly, the level of activity and customer engagement is extremely high. I think sort of what Jim is getting at is the fact that I think we got asked this question another way earlier of pace of announcements. We are in no rush to announce a deal to announce a deal. I think we're in a very [enviable] position where the value of the platform that we are able to deliver to customers is becoming more and more apparent by the day. And I think that the needs of those customers are growing more and more apparent by the day.

是的。我是 Ryan。我認為當然，活動量與客戶互動的程度都非常高。我想 Jim 想表達的是，我們之前也以另一種方式被問到這個問題——關於公告節奏。我們不會為了公告而公告、急著宣布一筆交易。我認為我們處在一個非常[令人稱羨]的位置：我們能交付給客戶的平台價值，正一天比一天更明顯。而且我認為那些客戶的需求，也一天比一天更清楚地浮現。

And so again, given the security that we've been provided by this offtake agreement with the Department of War to invest aggressively and quickly, that does not mean we need to contract quickly and contract in a way that does not maximize long-term value to the company. And so you've seen us do exactly this across every piece of our business, right?

因此再說一次，鑑於我們透過與戰爭部的承購（offtake）協議所獲得的安全性，使我們能夠積極且快速地投資，這並不代表我們必須快速簽約，或以無法最大化公司長期價值的方式簽約。所以你們已經看到我們在業務的每一個環節都確實是這樣做的，對吧？

We've had a gadolinium product available for sale for a very, very long time. You're hearing us announce it today because we picked the right partner to do that provides the right risk-adjusted return on capital. And so you will see us continue to operate the same way we always have, which is to announce something significant when it's ready.

我們的釓（gadolinium）產品其實已經可供銷售很久很久了。你們今天才聽到我們宣布，是因為我們選到了合適的合作夥伴，能提供合適的風險調整後資本報酬。因此你們會看到我們繼續以一貫方式運作：當某件重要事項準備好時，我們才會宣布。

Matt Summerville, D.A. Davidson.

Matt Summerville，D.A. Davidson。

Yes. Thank you. Just a couple quick ones. First, can you kind of talk through the puts and takes in magnetics revenue and EBITDA in the second half of the year, and how we should be thinking about the ultimate phasing of the commercial ramp over the course of 2027 to hit that initial 1,000 tons per year nameplate? And then I have a quick follow-up after.

是的。謝謝。我有幾個很快的問題。第一，能否請你們談談今年下半年磁材（magnetics）營收與 EBITDA 的增減因素（puts and takes），以及我們應該如何看待 2027 年整體商業化爬坡的最終節奏，以達到最初每年 1,000 噸的名目產能（nameplate）？然後我還有一個簡短的追問。

Yeah, sure. It's Ryan again. I'll take that. I think we've tried to message to you all that the ramp down in precursor product sales and the ramp up of magnet sales will definitionally be lumpy and nonlinear. Good example obviously is this quarter. We began operating the commercial magnet production facilities for our trial shipments and for our run and rate testing.

好的，當然。我又是 Ryan。我來回答。我想我們一直試著向各位傳達：前驅體（precursor）產品銷售的下滑，以及磁鐵銷售的上升，按定義就會是起伏不定且非線性的。本季顯然就是個很好的例子。我們開始運行商用磁鐵生產設施，用於試運出貨以及跑量（run rate）測試。

If you look at the P&L there, you saw a pretty significant amount of overhead and labor and materials costs that are not yet inventoriable but are very typical of a startup of this type of operation. And so just given the structure of our arrangement on the pricing for precursor products, that necessitates that many of those costs that previously were ascribable to metal production are now allocated into the magnet portions of the facility. And so I think the interesting thing is, behind the scenes, we had our best metal production quarter ever.

如果你看損益表（P&L），你會看到相當可觀的管理費用、人工與材料成本，這些目前還不能資本化為存貨（inventoriable），但對這類型營運啟動期而言非常典型。因此，考量我們在前驅體產品定價安排上的結構，這就使得許多先前可歸屬於金屬生產的成本，現在被分攤到設施的磁鐵部分。所以我認為有趣的是，在幕後，我們其實創下了史上最佳的金屬生產季度。

And so I think that what we've laid out is the beginning of commercial shipments of magnets in Q4. There'll be a modest ramp of volume over time, but again, as I mentioned earlier, we need to be sequencing exactly those deliveries at different production cadences, aligning with the demand at various production plants of our customer. We will learn more about that and have more to share with you guys as we get closer to the end of the year, as far as the cadence of 2027.

因此我想我們所說明的是：在第四季（Q4）開始商用磁鐵出貨。之後出貨量會隨時間溫和爬坡，但如我先前提到的，我們需要以不同的生產節奏來安排這些交付，並與客戶各生產工廠的需求對齊。隨著接近年底，我們會對此了解更多，也會就 2027 年的節奏與各位分享更多資訊。

Thanks. And then quickly as a follow-up, as I think about NdPr demand for just the US Defense complex, can you help frame what that looks like today and what it could look like, say, over the next few years if the administration sort of gets its way with its desired rearmament and incremental militarization as a function of where they want to take the DoW budget? How significant that could be to NdPr demand, if there's a way to frame that? Thanks.

謝謝。接著很快追問一下：當我思考僅就美國國防體系對 NdPr 的需求時，你能否協助框架一下目前大概是什麼樣子？以及如果政府在未來幾年如其所願推動再武裝與額外軍事化，並依其希望調整戰爭部預算（DoW budget）的方向，需求可能會變成什麼樣子？如果有方式可以量化或框架其對 NdPr 需求的影響，會有多顯著？謝謝。

Well, I'm sorry, that's classified. We [could tell] you, but we'd have to kill you. (laughter)

嗯，抱歉，那是機密。我們[可以告訴]你，但那樣我們就得殺了你。（笑聲）

No, I mean defense demand currently, if you're looking at things like missiles, is a small amount of demand. The key question, if we look at drones, for example, I mean there are estimates. It's hard to know because a lot's China and Ukraine. There are estimates that maybe drone production is somewhere around 12 million a year.

不過我是說，目前國防需求，如果你看像飛彈這類，需求量其實不大。關鍵問題是，例如看無人機（drones），外界有一些估算。很難確定，因為很多在中國和烏克蘭。有估算認為無人機年產量可能在 1,200 萬架左右。

If you do the math, we estimate that maybe it's somewhere between 500 and 1,000 tons of magnet demand. It's not a huge amount relative to the industry, but it is essentially 100% in China, and that is certainly a dual use technology that, in fact, we saw some recent stuff around drones this past week with the Chinese further banning export.

如果你算一下，我們估計磁鐵需求可能介於 500 到 1,000 噸之間。相對於整個產業來說不算很大，但幾乎 100% 都在中國；而這確實是雙重用途技術（dual use technology）。

But I think the takeaway is that if you look at the demand today, it's relatively immaterial. But if you look at it three to five years out, it's going to be quite large given the fact that realistically, MP is the only company that can satisfy that demand because that's going to be an area where there's going to be very strict watching of what is sent out of China, to obviously to support the American defense supply chain.

但我認為重點是：如果看今天的需求，它相對不具實質性影響。但如果看三到五年後，規模會相當大；因為現實地說，MP 是唯一能滿足該需求的公司，因為那將會是對從中國輸出的內容進行非常嚴格監控的領域，以明顯支持美國國防供應鏈。

And so that, again, is some of the thinking around Swarm, which is we want to be [early] and ahead of it, and help the industry standardize and make sure that they know that we're going to be there for them. And so I think it will be a very attractive piece of business for us. But again, it's immaterial today.

因此，這也是我們對 Swarm 的一些思考：我們希望能[提早]布局、走在前面，協助產業標準化，並確保他們知道我們會在那裡支持他們。所以我認為這會成為我們非常有吸引力的一塊業務。但再說一次，今天它還不具實質性影響。

Ben Kallo, Baird.

Ben Kallo，Baird。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I know we're short on time, so I'm just going to ask a big picture question. Throughout history, I think that in times of extreme scarcity, there's always been innovation. I just want to understand what you guys are doing to make sure that you're ahead on that innovation side, because it seems like the problem -- throughout the call, you've been stressing how big the problem is. It seems like the innovation will come in and help solve the problem. So what are you guys doing in terms of R&D or anything else? Thank you, guys.

嗨，各位。謝謝讓我提問。我知道時間不多，所以我就問一個宏觀問題。縱觀歷史，我認為在極度稀缺的時期，總會出現創新。我想了解你們正在做什麼，以確保你們在創新方面走在前面，因為看起來這個問題——整場電話會議中你們一直強調問題有多大。看起來創新會介入並幫助解決問題。所以你們在研發（R&D）或其他方面做了哪些事？謝謝各位。

Sure. I mean there's innovation, there's sort of different levels of that. There's innovation as far as getting your cost structure down, thrifting hard or expensive materials. And that is obviously something as we have been doing from the beginning with Independence and soon with 10X, where we've got an enormous team and we are (inaudible) at pushing that forward. And I would say that I'm very proud of the team that we've [assembled] and the progress that we've made. We talk about that quite a bit.

當然。我的意思是，確實有創新，而且大概有不同層次的創新。就降低成本結構而言也有創新，例如更節省地使用昂貴或稀缺材料。而這顯然是我們從一開始在 Independence、以及很快在 10X 就一直在做的事情；我們有一支龐大的團隊，而且我們正（聽不清）推動這件事向前。我想說，我為我們[組建]的團隊以及我們取得的進展感到非常自豪。我們也經常談到這一點。

I think there's quite a bit of innovation happening there. And then I think if you're talking about sort of innovation as far as substitution, I mean there's no question that people are always going to try to substitute expensive or hard-to-find things. We witnessed this, you go back five or six years ago when the EV was on the rise, there was talk about people who were saying, we're going to have rare earth free magnets.

我認為那裡確實正在發生相當多的創新。然後我想，如果你談的是替代方面的創新，我的意思是，毫無疑問，人們總是會嘗試用替代品取代昂貴或難以取得的東西。我們曾見證過這種情況；回到五、六年前，當電動車崛起時，曾有人在談，說我們要做不含稀土的磁鐵。

And of course that sort of flamed out. It didn't really happen. There was some heavy [thrifting], but it didn't happen. In fact, demand went quite a bit higher.

而當然，那種說法最後就不了了之。並沒有真正發生。確實有一些大幅度的[節省用量]，但並沒有實現。事實上，需求反而大幅上升。

Interestingly, with respect to robotics, you do not hear that at all. And I think one of the reasons is because when it comes to robotics, size, weight, torque density, these things really matter more so. In a big car, you can have a bigger magnet, a less efficient magnet. There's ways that you can compensate. You can make those cost trade-offs.

有趣的是，就機器人而言，你完全聽不到那樣的說法。我認為其中一個原因是，談到機器人時，尺寸、重量、扭矩密度等因素更為關鍵。在一輛大型汽車裡，你可以用更大的磁鐵、效率較低的磁鐵。你有方法可以補償。你可以做那些成本取捨。

But when it comes to some of these physical AI use cases, I think it's going to be that much harder to innovate, and that's probably one of the reasons why we don't hear a lot of that talk. Again, when things get scarce and hard, people are always going to try, and there needs to be some. I mean there's no question because the supply-demand imbalance is so large.

但當涉及某些實體 AI 的應用場景時，我認為要創新會困難得多，這可能也是我們聽不到太多那類討論的原因之一。再說一次，當東西變得稀缺、難以取得時，人們總是會嘗試，而且也必須要有一些作為。我的意思是，毫無疑問，因為供需失衡實在太大。

I think we're also seeing working with our customers to innovate our products and to customize or to accommodate our products and their needs to what is available and what we can make available. But I think the fact that we will have a domestic supply chain for the first time in a long time gives unique opportunities for that kind of innovation.

我認為我們也看到，透過與客戶合作來創新我們的產品，並進行客製化，或調整我們的產品與他們的需求，以符合現有可取得的資源，以及我們能夠提供的供應。但我認為，我們將在很長一段時間以來首次擁有國內供應鏈，這為那類創新帶來了獨特的機會。

And on that point, just one last point that is something that we don't talk much about, but given the team that we've built, and our thinking about magnetics formulas and how we do things, these things are never static, right? There are different things that come in, everything is cyclical. And so the way you make a magnet today may be very different than how you make it three years from now, because there may be different things that are scarce.

而就這一點，再補充最後一點：這是我們不太常談的，但考量到我們建立的團隊，以及我們對磁性配方與做法的思考，這些事情從來都不是靜態的，對吧？會有不同因素加入，一切都是週期性的。因此，你今天製作磁鐵的方法，三年後可能會非常不同，因為可能會有不同的東西變得稀缺。

And so we have done a lot of work around building the capability to make sure that we are being thoughtful about how we're making magnets and also how we're making the capability to make magnets so that we can evolve over time as the market evolves. And I think that's going to be a key thing.

因此，我們在建立能力方面做了大量工作，以確保我們在如何製作磁鐵上保持審慎，同時也在打造製作磁鐵的能力，讓我們能隨著市場演變而隨時間進化。我認為這將會是一個關鍵。

If you think the world is just going to be static and it's like, I got to get X of this and Y of that, by the time that comes to fruition, things may totally have changed. Or They may have not, but you've got to be in a position to adapt quickly, and I think that our magnetics team has been at that for years. And I think we have pretty extraordinary capability on that front.

如果你認為世界會一直靜止不變，好像就是我得拿到這個 X、那個 Y，那麼等到那件事真正落地時，情況可能已經完全改變了。或者也可能沒有改變，但你必須處在能夠快速適應的位置；我認為我們的磁性團隊多年來一直在做這件事。我認為我們在這方面具備相當卓越的能力。

That concludes the question and answer portion of today's call. I will now hand the call back to Mr. Litinsky for closing remarks.

以上結束今天電話會議的問答部分。我現在把電話交回給 Litinsky 先生作結語。

Okay. Thank you. This was a really solid quarter of execution. A lot is going on both at Mountain Pass and in Texas. And a little bit of breaking news, during the call, I got a photo. We are now officially vertical on our site for 10X. So we are moving very quickly on construction there, and we will get back to work and see you next quarter.

好的。謝謝。這是一個執行表現非常扎實的季度。Mountain Pass 和德州兩邊都有很多事情在進行。另外有一點最新消息：在通話期間，我收到了一張照片。我們在 10X 的工地現場現在已正式完成立柱（結構）到位。因此我們那邊的施工進度非常快，我們會回去繼續工作，下個季度見。