Pakistan does have rare earth minerals and is willing to give them to the United States. The United States was happy to hear that and thought it had found a "life-saving straw" to get rid of China. But the problem is that Pakistan only has ore and no refining capacity; the United States has been hollow in its industry for decades and cannot even build a complete rare earth separation line. To put it bluntly, when this pile of mines is transported to the United States, it is just a pile of dug stones that cannot be turned into magnets in motors or loaded into new energy vehicles or fighter jets.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, it does have rare earth mines. The combined reserves in Balochistan and Punjab exceed 40 million tons. The elements such as neodymium and praseodymium in it are the treasures that F-35 fighter jets and new energy vehicles can use.
But Pakistan's shortcomings are too obvious. Let alone refining, even mining has to rely on imported equipment. It can dig up to 2,000 tons a year, which cannot even meet its own needs.
Separation and purification of rare earths is known as "the pinnacle of fine chemical engineering". 17 elements with similar properties have to be disassembled, and the purity has to reach 99.9999%. Pakistan can't even touch the door of this job. In the past, if you want to do it, you have to ask China for technical support.
The situation of the United States is even more embarrassing than that of Pakistan. In 2002, the last rare earth mine stopped production, and in 2005, the only rare earth research team also broke up, which is equivalent to personally smashing its own industrial chain.
Want to rebuild now? It's as difficult as climbing to the sky. China uses solvent extraction to refine rare earths, which costs only US $10 per kilogram, while the United States costs US $100 to recycle them from e-waste, and the purity is less than 60%.
MP Materials, the only local rare earth plant, still has to transport ore to China for purification, and cannot even build a complete separation line by itself.
In September, a $500 million deal was signed, and in October, 2 tons of samples were expedited to the United States, and the progress was very fast, but these minerals were only stored in warehouses.
An F-35 fighter plane needs 417 kilograms of rare earths, and an Aegis ship needs 2.4 tons. What the U.S. military industry and new energy industry lack is refined raw materials that can be directly used, not a pile of stones.
China has long been prepared. The new regulations on rare earth control that came into effect in August directly include mining and smelting technologies under control. Even technical support cannot be provided overseas without permission.
In this case, it has stuck the main harm, Pakistan even if it wants to build a milling plant, without China's technology can not play at all; the United States itself can not do the technology, want to help the Pakistani side does not have that thing.
As soon as China controlled the export of seven kinds of rare earths in April, the Pentagon's inventory was only enough to last for 67 days, and the price soared three times in three weeks. This confidence cannot be achieved by shouting slogans.
In fact, both sides know that this cooperation is more like an expedient measure for each to get what they need. Pakistan owes US$130 billion in foreign debt, and its foreign exchange reserves are only enough to support imports for one and a half months. US$500 million in investment is life-saving money for it; the United States is afraid of rare earths and wants to find a substitute to support the situation and make strategic layout in South Asia.
Moreover, more than 95 percent of China’s refining capacity and 90 percent of its related patents can’t be avoided. Now the first batches of minerals have been shipped to the United States, but no one says how to deal with them.
The global rare earth industry chain has been welded to death by China for decades, and it cannot be replaced casually by finding a partner with mines. The United States wants to get rid of dependence by this trick, but I'm afraid it only discovers in the end that what it grasps is not a life-saving straw at all, but a dead branch that can't quench its thirst.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, it does have rare earth mines. The combined reserves in Balochistan and Punjab exceed 40 million tons. The elements such as neodymium and praseodymium in it are the treasures that F-35 fighter jets and new energy vehicles can use.
But Pakistan's shortcomings are too obvious. Let alone refining, even mining has to rely on imported equipment. It can dig up to 2,000 tons a year, which cannot even meet its own needs.
Separation and purification of rare earths is known as "the pinnacle of fine chemical engineering". 17 elements with similar properties have to be disassembled, and the purity has to reach 99.9999%. Pakistan can't even touch the door of this job. In the past, if you want to do it, you have to ask China for technical support.
The situation of the United States is even more embarrassing than that of Pakistan. In 2002, the last rare earth mine stopped production, and in 2005, the only rare earth research team also broke up, which is equivalent to personally smashing its own industrial chain.
Want to rebuild now? It's as difficult as climbing to the sky. China uses solvent extraction to refine rare earths, which costs only US $10 per kilogram, while the United States costs US $100 to recycle them from e-waste, and the purity is less than 60%.
MP Materials, the only local rare earth plant, still has to transport ore to China for purification, and cannot even build a complete separation line by itself.
In September, a $500 million deal was signed, and in October, 2 tons of samples were expedited to the United States, and the progress was very fast, but these minerals were only stored in warehouses.
An F-35 fighter plane needs 417 kilograms of rare earths, and an Aegis ship needs 2.4 tons. What the U.S. military industry and new energy industry lack is refined raw materials that can be directly used, not a pile of stones.
China has long been prepared. The new regulations on rare earth control that came into effect in August directly include mining and smelting technologies under control. Even technical support cannot be provided overseas without permission.
In this case, it has stuck the main harm, Pakistan even if it wants to build a milling plant, without China's technology can not play at all; the United States itself can not do the technology, want to help the Pakistani side does not have that thing.
As soon as China controlled the export of seven kinds of rare earths in April, the Pentagon's inventory was only enough to last for 67 days, and the price soared three times in three weeks. This confidence cannot be achieved by shouting slogans.
In fact, both sides know that this cooperation is more like an expedient measure for each to get what they need. Pakistan owes US$130 billion in foreign debt, and its foreign exchange reserves are only enough to support imports for one and a half months. US$500 million in investment is life-saving money for it; the United States is afraid of rare earths and wants to find a substitute to support the situation and make strategic layout in South Asia.
Moreover, more than 95 percent of China’s refining capacity and 90 percent of its related patents can’t be avoided. Now the first batches of minerals have been shipped to the United States, but no one says how to deal with them.
The global rare earth industry chain has been welded to death by China for decades, and it cannot be replaced casually by finding a partner with mines. The United States wants to get rid of dependence by this trick, but I'm afraid it only discovers in the end that what it grasps is not a life-saving straw at all, but a dead branch that can't quench its thirst.