US Can Produce Rare Earths If China Stops Exports–But There’s a Catch

The Epoch Times ^ | April 23, 2025 | John Haughey

[bigbob]

Rare earths aren’t rare but it is costly, complex, and messy (environmental) to refine them, so the US outsourced that to China.

Chickens —> Roost.

[rdcbn1]

China just made a huge strategic blunder.

They have been working hard to corner the market as the worlds supplier of rare earth minerals so they can control access to high tech manufacturing in order to give them a big advantage in any down stream war.

They have been using predatory tactics to dump Chinese materials at below production price costs for competitors to pt them out of business or to allow China to acquire controlling interests in their operations at bargain basement prices.

Cutting the US off has had the combined effect of increasing demand and shoring up the bottom lines of the Chinese competition while waking up foreign governments and forcing them to realize the error of their reliance on China for strategic materials

[sphinx]

So: an estimate from a knowledgeable person of a critical five year (probably optimistic) window of vulnerability before we can ramp up domestic sources.

That is the good news.

On the downside, the environmental groups are probably already fielding jump teams to search for a rare and endangered weed or insect that can power 30 years of lawfare. Cost is no object; Horoscope and the Chinese will launder whatever money the environment need, and ChatGPT means the necessary “scientific” studies can be written in seconds.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

It sounds like there has to be about 5 years of talking and blathering about this critical topic before anything gets done.

[ZOOKER]

Well at first I thought "we need to start production" but the left would ban, protest, litigate and sabotage it, then the dems would kill it when they regained power.

Then I thought "we need a strategic stockpile of rare earths" but they'd sell it off, just like Biden did with oil...

[The Antiyuppie]

I wonder if our rare earth deposits contain ALL of the rare earths. Depending where you look, there are 15 or 17. Some have very low quantity esoteric uses and some are absolutely critical.

[delta7]

Rare earths aren’t rare but it is costly, complex, and messy (environmental) to refine them, so the US outsourced that to China.
———-
Exactly, open evaporation ponds, leeching, etc…the battle with the leftists, save the planet, Nazi EPA begins.

[delta7]

A report by MacGregor states our coal deposits contain huge quantities of rare earths and other minerals.

I believe a map is included on his website.If pursued, Pennsylvania area will boom.

[packagingguy]

It’s better to develop resources outside of China now rather than wait until we are in a war somewhere.

Then China could cut us off then and we’d have no alternate suppliers.

[Red Badger]

The US and several NATO countries should form a ‘consortium’ corporation, similar to Airbus, To build refining facilities, produce and store these critical minerals, like a Fort Knox, and equally share their products............

[zeestephen]

Re: "Five years to develop a Rare Earth domestic supply chain."

Another job begging for Elon Musk.

[Red Badger]

It could be done in less than half that............

[rellic]

America has one problem, Democrat leftists!
“But “close” is a relative term when it comes to mining and refining, where proposed projects can routinely take 10 to 20 years to be approved.”
That is our problem.
I can dig a hole in the ground TODAY! but we have to let a Democrat “approve” it, so it may take years.

[RoosterRedux]

Calling this a “blunder” may be premature. Cutting off rare earth exports looks more like China playing a strong hand in response to tariffs—demonstrating leverage, not losing control.

As an aside, Lynas Rare Earths (LYSDY) dropped ~8% overnight after Trump suggested the U.S. and China would likely “work it out” on trade.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Leaving your supply of critical resources needed for your defense in the arms of a military opponent is...just colossally stupid. The time to start fixing this is right now.

[9YearLurker]

Past time to start digging and processing.

[CollegeRepublican]

The Mountain Pass deposit is rich in the lighter rare earths. The heavier rare earths such as dysprosium and yttrium are not not found in developed mines in the US (yet). The Greenland deposit does have the heavier REE that we need for electric motors and high tech electronics.

Lots of information can be found here: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/uranium-from-rare-earths-deposits

Rare earth mining is messy because almost always radioactive elements are found in conjunction with the REE. Separation of these elements from the ore bodies require acid leaching and other environmentally damaging processes. China doesn’t have an EPA or care about their workers. Hence most of the refining capacity is in China.

[RoosterRedux]

Absolutely.

What we need is a Manhattan Project-style push—not just for rare earths, but for AI, quantum computing, and other critical tech sectors.

But unlike a one-time weapons breakthrough, this will require redesigning some tech ecosystems—like AI—to include domestic manufacturing, while building others, like quantum and rare earth supply chains, from the ground up. It’s going to take bold coordination, sweeping deregulation, and serious strategic investment. The U.S. can win this cold war—but only if it acts now, not a decade from now.

Elon Musk, pick up the white courtesy phone.

[Carry_Okie]

“I certainly hope, as the administration is working through this critical area—no pun intended, it’s a critical area—they realize there’s this vulnerability gap, a four to five year gap, no matter how you look at it, in terms of ramping up domestic production,” Sanderson said.

I'd bet half to two thirds of that gap is regulatory.