US taps industrial waste to cut reliance on China for rare earths

US President Donald Trump has since launched an international deal blitz, forging multi-billion-dollar partnerships to develop mining and processing capacity with countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan and Australia. 

But experts warn progress will be slow, saying the US rare earths sector is decades behind China’s, with only one active mine and limited capacity to refine or manufacture magnets. 

“Mining is not an industry you turn on and turn off when there’s conflict. We are looking at a lead time to get ourselves where we need to go. We are not prepared for a long conflict,” said Baskaran.

REBUILDING US’ RARE EARTH SECTOR

To speed things up, Washington has poured billions of dollars into reviving domestic production, partnering with private companies to support rare earth startups.

Texas-based Noveon Magnetics, for example, has received more than US$35 million from the US Defense Department in recent years. It is currently the only manufacturer of high-performance rare earth magnets in the country, producing millions of them each year.