The seven rare earth stocks worth tracking — $MP, $LYC.AX, $USAR, $ILU.AX, $UUUU, $ALOY, $TMC — where each sits in the mine-to-magnet supply chain, why the trade has re-accelerated under Chinese export controls, and how to think about REMX vs a focused Western basket.
More Macroplane supply-chain guides · Baskets · Investment theses · Macro trends
The seven names in this guide cover the credible Western rare-earth investment universe: $MP, $LYC.AX, $USAR, $ILU.AX, $UUUU, $ALOY, and $TMC. Within that set, $LYC.AX and $MP are the closest to "producer" status, $USAR and $ILU.AX are large optionality plays on heavy-REE refining capacity coming online, and $UUUU, $ALOY, and $TMC are smaller, more speculative bets. There is no single "best" pick — the basket exists because policy and capacity ramps are inherently lumpy and binary, so diversifying across the credible Western names is the standard approach.
Yes — mining is ~70% Chinese, separation is ~85–90% Chinese, and magnet production is ~90% Chinese. That dominance is narrowing slowly as $LYC.AX expands, $MP builds out separation and magnet capacity in Texas, and $ILU.AX commissions Eneabba — but the structural picture will still be Chinese-led for years. The investment thesis is on the rate of change (Western capacity ramping from ~5% toward 20-30% of global by 2030), not on a full decoupling.
Light rare earths (lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium) are more abundant and used in catalysts, glass, and standard NdFeB magnets. Heavy rare earths (dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, europium) are scarcer and critical for high-temperature magnets in EV motors and defense systems, plus phosphors and lasers. China controls heavy REE refining even more tightly than light REEs (>90%), which is why $USAR's Round Top project (dysprosium-rich) and $ILU.AX's Eneabba refinery (heavy-REE focused) command strategic premiums.
Yes — they trade like small-cap commodity names with policy overhangs. Daily 10%+ moves on Beijing export announcements, US DoD contracts, or earnings prints are normal. Position sizing should reflect that; the basket approach exists partly to absorb idiosyncratic single-name shocks while keeping thesis exposure.
The Rare Earths basket on Macroplane shows daily and longer-term performance for each constituent, plus links to per-company supply-chain maps, news, and customer relationships. The Rare Earth & Critical Minerals trend page widens the lens to lithium, cobalt, uranium, and other strategic metals.