Threatening the Monopoly

I think this is a step in the right direction. A new rare earths processing plant has opened in Colorado, reports National Defense:

A new pilot plant that will process rare earth elements necessary for many critical U.S. military weapons systems opened in June, as part of an effort to end China’s monopoly on the important resources.

The pilot plant is a joint venture between USA Rare Earth and Texas Mineral Resources Corp. The two companies previously funded a project on Round Top mountain in Hudspeth County, Texas, which features 16 of the 17 rare earth elements.

“Our objective is to set up a domestic U.S. supply chain without the materials ever leaving the United States,” said Pini Althaus, CEO of USA Rare Earth.

The elements are necessary for the creation of a number of weapons systems including the Lockheed Martin-made F-35 joint strike fighter, Tomahawk cruise missiles and other munitions.

Contrary to what you might infer from the name rare earths aren’t rare at all. They’re actually rather common and the U. S. was the leading producer until environmental concerns drove the whole industry away. You would think that China’s restriction of rare earth exports a decade ago would have taught us a valuable lesson then but apparently not. Will the supply chain interruptions caused by China’s lockdowns be enough? We can only hope.

Now if we were talking cobalt there would be an even thornier question. The top producers of cobalt are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Australia, Philippines, and Cuba while the countries with the largest proven reserves are the DRC, Australia, and Cuba. It’s more than a coincidence that China is grabbing as much power as it can in Congo.