Will Putin help Trump challenge China’s stranglehold on rare earths?

US President Donald Trump’s pursuit of rare earth minerals in Greenland and Ukraine to counter China’s dominance over the critical metals might not match the reality of global reserves.

But Russia’s offer to give the US access to the rare resources needed for hi-tech applications could save Trump’s plan, and undercut China’s tightening export controls on critical minerals.

Rare earths are a group of 17 critical minerals used to produce electronics, superconductors, large magnets, defence systems and green technology.

Greenland has the eighth largest reserve of rare earth elements in the world at 1.5 million tonnes, placing it behind the US at seventh with 1.9 million tonnes of “recoverable materials”, according to the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) annual report on global mineral commodities released in January.

China has the world’s largest rare earth reserves at 44 million tonnes. Ukraine is not listed among countries with a known share of rare earth reserves on the USGS database.

Russia ranks fifth in the world in rare earth reserves, with 3.8 million tonnes – double that of the US.