MP Materials soared 50.62 percent on Thursday to hit a new high after sealing a multi-billion-dollar deal with the Department of Defense (DOD) to ramp up the production of rare earth minerals in the

James Litinsky, MP Materials chairman and CEO, joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the company's deal with the Defense Department, in which the Pentagon will become the largest shareholder in the rare earth miner.

MP Materials (MP) was a big mover last session on higher-than-average trading volume. The latest trend in earnings estimate revisions might not help the stock continue moving higher in the near term.

As of 10:17 a.m. ET on Friday, shares of MP Materials stock had climbed 6.5%.

An Historic Public-Private Partnership The U.S. Defense Dept. announced yesterday it was making a multibillion-dollar investment in MP Materials (NYSE:MP), the sole operator of the rare earth mineral mine in California.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) ("MP Materials" or the "Company") today announced it has entered into a transformational public-private partnership with the United States Department of Defense ("DoD") to dramatically accelerate the build-out of an end-to-end U.

According to the agreement, the Department of Defense will purchase $400 million of a newly created series of preferred stock that's convertible into shares of the MP Materials common stock as well as a warrant permitting the Department of Defense to acquire additional shares of common stock.

On Thursday, the United States Department of Defense (DOD) entered a major deal with MP Materials. The DOD agreed to buy $400 million of MP Materials newly created preferred shares stock. The move will make the U.S. military the company’s largest stakeholder. In the hours after the deal, the company’s stock surged more than 50%.