" ... China has a virtual monopoly on the processing of rare earth elements that are needed for high tech (smartphones and laptops), defense equipment, and so-call “green” energy technologies.
It not only produces the majority of rare earth elements, but it has the most rare earth reserves.
China’s market dominance enables it to control prices and put pressure on challengers that threaten its ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy to create a vertically integrated supply chain encompassing mining, magnets, and high-tech manufacturing.
The West needs to move rapidly to regain control of its industrial future; “green” energy policies that foster an overwhelming dependence on China threaten it.
Rare earth elements are used in the production of high tech devices such as defense equipment (e.g. radar systems and guided missiles) and energy technologies (e.g. electric vehicles and wind turbines)
China dominates the supply chain of rare earth elements, having 37 percent of proven reserves, producing 63 percent of global output, and housing about 85 percent of the processing capacity
... The United States produced 12 percent of global rare earth supply in 2019 at its Mountain Pass mine, but the ore must be shipped to China to be upgraded into compounds and products which are then shipped back to the United States.
The Mountain Pass mine that produces the U.S.’s rare earths is partially owned by a Chinese company
The United States imports about 80 percent of its rare earth requirements from China, compared to a high of 23 percent of imported oil from the Middle East n 2001
The United States is much, much more dependent upon China for the rare earth minerals necessary for renewable energy technologies than it ever was on the Middle East for oil imports
The U.S. Department of Defense is funding two separation plants in the United States under a program initiated by President Trump
There are 17 rare earth elements that are used in the production of high-tech devices such as smartphones and computers, defense equipment such as radar systems and guided missiles, and energy technologies such as electric cars and wind turbines.
While these elements are common in the earth’s crust, they are found in tiny concentrations and are mixed together, making them difficult to isolate.
China has the most proven reserves of rare earth elements (37 percent[) and produces around 63 percent of global output, which it uses to fuel its high-tech industries, exporting the remainder.
Rare earth metals are often broken up into two categories according to their atomic weight: light and heavy.
... Light rare earths include: cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium and scandium.
... neodymium is considered one of the most critical.
The metal is used in everything from mobile phones and electric cars to medical equipment.
Neodymium is also the main light rare earth used in the creation of permanent magnets.
These magnets are versatile and are heavily used in data storage systems and wind turbines.
Heavy rare earth metals ... are less common, and some elements within the group are facing shortages as demand outpaces supply.
... Dysprosium, yttrium and terbium are considered critical elements in the heavy rare earth metals group as they face low supply and increasing importance in the development of renewable energy technologies.
... China has dominated rare earths production for a number of years.
In 2019, its domestic output of 132,000 metric tons was an increase from 120,000 metric tons the previous year—an increase of 10 percent.
... Currently, six state-owned miners are in charge of China’s rare earths mining industry and operate at the behest of the government.
... China also dominates rare earth processing with at least 85 percent of global rare earth processing capacity.
... Because China does not impose the regulations on mining rare earths that other countries do, “toxic wastes from rare-earth facilities have poisoned water, ruined farmlands, and made people sick”.
From 1940 to 1990, the United States produced and mined its own rare earth minerals at the Mountain Pass mine in California.
Until the 1980s the United States was one of the world’s largest producers, but was usurped by China, whose production increased by more than 500 percent since 1990 due to its substantial deposits and cheap labor.
The cost of developing a rare earth mine can cost up to a half-billion dollars.
Generating profits from rare earths has proved elusive for non-Chinese companies and low prices make the funding of new projects difficult to justify.
Rare earths supply in the United States currently comes only from the Mountain Pass mine in California, which went back into production in the first quarter of 2018 after closing in the fourth quarter of 2015 due to China’s competitive prices, opposition from environmentalists, and U.S. environmental regulations escalating the cost of production.
It was run by Molycorp before it went bankrupt and then was bought by MP Materials in 2017.
In 2019, the United States ... accounted for 12 percent of global production.
The rare earth ore that the United States mines at Mountain Pass gets shipped to China to be upgraded into compounds and products which are then shipped back to the United States.
... According to the United States Geological Survey, the United States gets around 80 percent of its rare earth imports from China.
The United States currently has virtually no capacity to produce neodymium-iron-boron magnets—the most common end-use application for rare earths and one that is set for major growth as electric vehicles increase their market share.
Rare earth magnets are also key inputs to many other applications from wind turbines to the F-35 fighter jets.
... in 2018, Myanmar provided 50 percent of China’s medium to heavy rare earths feedstock.
However, at the end of 2019, Myanmar closed its borders to China, driven by a stated aim of environmental protection and remediation.
The recent coup there calls into question its reliability as a supplier to the world.
Rare earths production in Australia has been rising steadily for the last few years.
... The country holds the sixth largest-known rare earth reserves in the world, and is poised to increase its output.
Australia-based Lynas Corp, the only non-Chinese rare earths producer, operates the Mount Weld mine and concentration plant in the country, and it recently announced plans to boost production ...
... Northern Minerals opened Australia’s first heavy rare earths mine in 2018. Its main products are terbium and dysprosium, the latter of which is used in technology such as permanent magnets.
... India’s current rare earths production industry is far below its potential.
The country holds almost 35 percent of the world’s total beach sand mineral deposits, which are significant sources of rare earths."