Why America’s brute-force effort on rare earths may not work against China

Rare earths are needed for everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets – and China controls the supply chain. In the second of a four-part series, we look at how China gradually took a commanding role in the rare earth industry, and how the US is now working to strengthen its sources and production.

Nearly a half-century removed from being the world’s dominant supplier of rare earth elements, California’s Mountain Pass mine is once again being tasked with unearthing a veritable treasure trove of metals and minerals that the United States hopes will help bridge a supply gulf with China in an increasingly critical industry.

Splashing out hundreds of millions of dollars, the US Department of Defence is digging deep into the public coffers to bring back the mine, which has had a rocky history.

After being shut down in 2002 due to environmental concerns, Mountain Pass was reawakened during the early days of former president Barack Obama’s administration when the privately held Molycorp Minerals was formed to revive it.

It was an ambitious undertaking, with approximately US$1.5 billion invested to reinstate production and give the US a competitive boost in the rare earth supply chain. But the effort ground to a halt in 2015 when the company went bankrupt.

In the decade since, Washington has slowly woken up to the reality of Beijing’s chokehold on rare earths and watched as that dominant position has become China’s biggest bargaining chip in the two sides’ protracted trade war.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has tried, with increased urgency, to get to the core of the problem by accelerating attempts to reduce America’s deep reliance on China for the raw materials that are used in everything from military weapons and semiconductors to electric vehicles and wind turbines.