The United States is scrambling to reduce its dependence on rare earths from China, with the Pentagon splashing out US$400 million on Thursday to become the largest shareholder in American miner MP Materials.
While some say the move will help wean the US off the Chinese supply, a senior American industry executive has warned that a variety of hurdles face US and European mining efforts – from securing the necessary midstream technology to obtaining government permits for what can be a highly pollutive and sometimes radioactive mining process.
“It depends upon the strategy and who’s doing it,” David Argyle, CEO of Ohio-based REalloys, said during a Zoom interview on Friday.
If all of the conditions are met, he said, “you can make big inroads, maybe achieving 40 [or] 50 per cent of the US’ strategic needs. You can probably have [the rare earth problem] solved in 2027 [or] 2028”.
REalloys delivers high-end magnet materials and magnets for US-protected markets, including the US National Defence Stockpile, US Defence Industrial Base, US Nuclear Industrial Base, robotics, electric aviation and critical infrastructure industries.
Beijing has tightened its grip over supplies of middle and heavy rare earths as leverage in its trade war with Washington, forcing the US side to ease its tech curbs during talks in London in early June.
