UPDATE 1-MP Materials' fourth-quarter loss beats Wall Street's expectations

Adds earning comparison in paragraph four, stock movement in paragraph two, unit results throughout

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Rare earths producer MP Materials MP.N said on Thursday its fourth-quarter loss widened due in part to higher production costs for the refining of the critical minerals, but the results beat Wall Street's expectations.

Shares of the Las Vegas-based company rose 1% to $23.40 in after-hours trading.

MP reported a net loss for the period ended December 31 of $22.3 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $16.3 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time items, including depreciation and costs for environmental obligations, MP lost 12 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected a loss of 13 cents per share, according to IBES data from LSEG.

MP produces rare earths concentrate at its California mine that it sells to refiners in China and elsewhere. It also refines rare earths in California.

The company produced 11,478 metric tons of that concentrate during the quarter, 24% higher than the year-ago period.

At its California refinery, MP produced 413 metric tons of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) — the two most in-demand rare earths — during the quarter, nearly triple the year-ago period.

Realized prices of rare earth concentrates and NdPr both fell during the quarter.

MP said it expects to begin manufacturing permanent magnets at its Texas facility by the end of 2025.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Chris Reese and Diane Craft)

((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; X: @ErnestScheyder; +1-469-691-7667; Reuters Messaging: ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))