Key Points
TMC is aiming to harvest rocks containing critical metals from the seabed of the Pacific Ocean.
MP Materials and USA Rare Earth are mining rare-earth metals and manufacturing permanent magnets.
These three stocks are speculative, but each could serve a critical purpose for the U.S. economy.
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Mining stocks aren't always the safest investments. The mining industry is cyclical -- growing when the economy does, but falling when economic activity slows down -- and the work itself is capital intensive. The best companies in this industry tend to be profitable, have robust balance sheets, and mine multiple metals, so one weak market doesn't derail the whole company.
For aggressive investors who can stay invested for five years or longer, there are a few under-the-radar mining stocks that might be worth a $100 investment. If you can stomach volatility, here are three interesting mining stocks to consider.
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1. TMC The Metals Company
TMC The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) is a deep-sea mining company that's focused on collecting polymetallic nodules from the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
In a nutshell, it wants to vacuum up these potato-sized nodules with specialized sea rovers and process them into battery-grade metals.
Image source: The Metals Company.
Each of these nodules is essentially an electric vehicle (EV) battery in miniature. They contain viable quantities of nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. While these metals are also found on land, TMC's pitch is to harvest them from the seafloor without the toxic tailings, deforestation, and other destructive side effects of traditional mining.
For years, the company was at a standstill, as it waited for the U.N.'s International Seabed Authority (ISA) to finalize a mining code for deep-sea ventures like its own. While that has slowed its progress, new initiatives from the U.S. government -- which doesn't recognize the ISA as an agency -- could give it a backdoor to mining metals sooner than expected.
Still, the company is pre-revenue. An investment today rests on hopes of commercialization.
2. MP Materials
MP Materials (NYSE: MP) owns and operates the Mountain Pass mine in California. This is currently the only active large-scale rare-earth mine in the U.S. It's also the second-largest rare-earth mine in the world.
MP Materials' business is crucial to the U.S. rare-earth metal supply chain. Not only is it mining rare-earth elements like neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) but it's also processing that ore into permanent magnets. These powerful magnets are crucial to many industries (like technology, clean energy, and defense), and without them, large parts of the U.S. economy would be at risk.
In July 2025, MP received a $400 million investment by the Department of Defense and entered a $500 million partnership with Apple.
3. USA Rare Earth
Like MP, USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR) is focused on building a domestic supply chain of rare-earth metals for American companies.
It controls the Round Top Mountain deposit in Texas, a massive polymetallic body that contains 15 of 17 rare-earth elements.
Unlike MP, however, USA Rare Earth is still building its mine and magnet manufacturing facilities. To that aim, it recently announced raising about $3.1 billion in funding, both from the Department of Commerce and private sector investments.
The company is pre-revenue, and its Round Top mine likely won't be operational until late 2028. Like MP and TMC, then, USA Rare Earth is a stock to hold for the long term -- the road could be rocky, but the upside for early investors could be significant.
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Steven Porrello has positions in TMC The Metals Company and USA Rare Earth. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool recommends MP Materials. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
