We can dig our own rare earth...then what?

The USA and its allies have all recently been talking about the rare earth dirt that they can dig out everywhere to counter China's dominance. There are massive volumes of rare earth reserves in Australia, India, Vietnam, Mongolia and even Ukraine (if true) and China aren't rattled. No one bothers talking about the rare earth refining logistics that China is controlling that is the pivotal make or break chain in the whole rare earth story. Almost 90% of rare earth refining logistics is in China, and China produces the purest rare earth elements that others have yet to emulate.

Sure, setting up such rare earth processing plant is possible, but not easier than digging up the dirt, costlier and time consuming too, not to talk about environmental issues that could hamper progress. Have the USA and its allies already done that before digging? Putting the cart before the horse is not going to move anywhere. Just chest thumping and crowing on a dung heap is not going to solve any rare earth problem.

So, the USA and its allies can dig up all the rare earth dirt they want, but what can they do with it without China's processing logistics? Trump was dead right when he said that by next year the USA would have so much rare earth, it does not know what to do with it. Dig baby dig all you want Trump.


Anonymous