US mining stocks got a boost from a renewed bout of trade jitters, only to quickly lose momentum after markets opened on Tuesday — but one mining firm is seeing its shares buck the broader plunge.
Since Friday, when Donald Trump sent markets spiraling with threats of new tariffs on China over its restrictions on rare earth exports, a handful of US mining stocks have surged.
Among the stocks to rally, only Critical Metals maintained the momentum. The company’s stock is up 103% in two days, hitting an intraday high of $30.48 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, USA Rare Earth and MP Materials, which both soared on Monday, tumbled as the broader market dropped at the open.
Investors are focused on what tighter supplies of rare earth materials from abroad could mean for US producers. It’s difficult to say what’s driving the other mining shares down, but Critical Metals could be getting a boost from a few sources.
In addition to being one of the few US suppliers of rare earth materials, the company is also a rumored target for investment by the US government. Reuters reported earlier this month that the administration was eyeing a stake. The Trump administration has already taken a stake in MP Materials earlier this year, sparking a rally in the shares, and Trump’s big investment spree in 2025 has often targeted US miners.
Critical Metals stock could also be getting a boost from positive investor sentiment on sectors targeted in JPMorgan’s big US security initiative announced on Monday. Critical minerals and mining were among the subsectors Jamie Dimon said the bank’s investment push would focus on.
Absent from the list of gainers since Friday is Lithium Americas, another mining stock in which the Trump administration has invested.
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Economist and Wharton professor of finance Jeremy Siegel said Tuesday that he isn’t concerned about the potential impact on the broader US economy from the new trade tensions. He said that he thinks an agreement will be reached before Trump’s November 1 deadline.
“It’ll be worked out, and it won’t be too negative for either country,” Siegel predicted. “Once it’s resolved, given all the other good things that are happening, I see no reason why we can’t continue on to new highs.”
He acknowledged, though, that America’s lack of a strategic reserve of rare earth materials is negative for national security.
“It’s scandalous that we don’t have a rare earths strategic reserve, that we let China monopolize 90% of the refining of rare earth materials,” Siegel said.
Trump’s tit-for-tat tariff negotiation style, particularly with China, has sparked high economic uncertainty since he returned to the White House.