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Defense Department Makes Big Investment in Rare Earth Minerals
Liberty Nation News ^ | July 18, 2025 | Dave Patterson

Posted on 07/18/2025 11:41:43 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Edging away from the unreliable China supply chain, the Pentagon is going in-house.

The Pentagon is making a signal shift in its defense industrial policy. In a recent move, the Department of Defense (DOD) has acquired a significant stake in MP Materials, a US domestic rare earth minerals mining company. Consistent with the Trump administration’s objective to reduce or eliminate America’s dependence on China for supply chains critical to national security, this move is seen as a strategic step. It aims to establish a defense industrial policy that can provide for a surging production capability more rapidly to meet emerging threats. When the emerging threat is China, remaining hostage to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the essential war materials would be insanity.

Rare Earth Minerals Aren’t Optional

It has been no secret that the US needs rare earth minerals for technologically sophisticated weapon systems, as well as for semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries. For the defense industrial base, the situation has become critical. The Biden administration assured “Americans it is monitoring the situation,” Liberty Nation News reported. “Gallium, germanium, and antimony are vital inputs for defense technologies,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). But China supplies 98% of primary gallium, 91% of germanium, and 63% of US antimony.

“The United States has no domestic antimony production and severely limited stockpiles,” CSIS reported. What’s worse, since export restrictions were imposed in September, the number of shipments from China dropped 97% while prices rose 200%. Antimony is in batteries, electronics, specialty glass products, and fireproofing compounds. To reduce dependence on China for rare earth minerals and refined specialty metals, the Trump administration is not just monitoring but investing in sources in the US and friendly nations.

Central to the US-Ukraine agreement is securing alternative sources for rare earth...

(Excerpt) Read more at libertynation.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: dod; military; minerals; mining; nationalsecurity

1 posted on 07/18/2025 11:41:43 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I wonder if this will turn into an anti-weapons manufacturing thread, an MIC thread.


2 posted on 07/18/2025 11:47:12 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Yes, everyone’s searching for and investing in rare earth metals. But mining them is one thing, while actually processing them into usable form is quite another. My understanding is that essentially 100% of rare earths processing is done by China, so the West will need to develop its own processing capability too — and pronto.


3 posted on 07/18/2025 12:12:40 PM PDT by Blurb2350 (posted from my 1500-watt blow dryer)
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To: Blurb2350

As we both know, the reason it is all done in China is because refining rare earths generates lots of toxic waste, and China has no environmental laws to inhibit its refinement.


4 posted on 07/18/2025 12:26:07 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of racism, anger, hate and violence.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

They should have plenty of money if they can lay hands on the 6.5 trillion they misplaced.


5 posted on 07/18/2025 12:29:40 PM PDT by dljordan (The Rewards of Tolerance are Treachery and Betrayal)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

next up, $DTREF.


6 posted on 07/18/2025 12:38:59 PM PDT by spacejunkie2001
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To: All

Since they’re very similar chemically processing out the individual elements is a challenge.


7 posted on 07/18/2025 12:43:46 PM PDT by Reily
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Get Ready


8 posted on 07/18/2025 12:50:14 PM PDT by bankwalker (Feminists, like all Marxists, are ungrateful parasites.)
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To: ansel12

I understand the need for this. But when D’s regain power (and that will happen eventually), this will become another grift and money laundering opportunity for them.

Government ownership of private businesses is generally not a good idea. It may be that previous administrations have put the US in such a bad spot on rare earths that something drastic like this is needed.


9 posted on 07/18/2025 1:22:01 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: ModelBreaker

We need the weapons, so they need to be manufactured, and not enough of them were being manufactured before Russia’s latest invasion.

This is great news for those concerned about national defense.


10 posted on 07/18/2025 1:26:43 PM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Thanks for the info. I didn’t know, but it makes obvious sense. China is truly filthy and getting filthier all the time.


11 posted on 07/18/2025 2:24:46 PM PDT by Blurb2350 (posted from my 1500-watt blow dryer)
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