U.S. enterprises have successfully refined high-purity rare earth, and made a "historic step" in breaking the Chinese monopoly?
Thro the recent U.S. rare-earth strategy, the Hooley River project in Wyoming has been dedicated to the "star of hope" by U.S. media, and America's rare-earth company announced that it has succeeded in obtaining rare-earth minerals from 840 kilograms of mineral from 36 drilling holes.
The project identified a mineral resource of 14.8 million tons, and the preliminary economic assessment showed a post-tax net current value of $5.58 billion.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense gave Ucore Rare Metals an additional $18.4 million in funding to accelerate the construction of a rare earth separation refinery in Louisiana, which is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2026.
The U.S. Key Materials Company’s collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory has also entered the second phase, planning to build a mid-test-scale processing plant that will process 1-2 tons of mineral per day.
The Trump administration has also signed a $8.5 billion key mineral deal with Australia, which plans to invest $1 billion in mining and processing over the next six months.
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to invest in the construction of a gallium refinery in western Australia. It is estimated that after the refinery is completed, the annual production volume of gallium will reach 100 tons. This plan is gradually advancing.
Compared to the U.S. "point breakthrough", China's advantage in the rare earth field is all-round, according to Goldman Sachs' latest report, China currently controls 69% of the world's rare earth mining, 92% of refining and 98% of magnetic manufacturing capacity.
Data from the International Energy Agency in 2023 shows that China's rare earth refining capacity accounts for as much as 92%.
The advantages of China's rare earth industry are not only reflected in scale, but also in quality and technology. Since 2011, China's rare earth patent applications have ranked first in the world for 14 consecutive years, accounting for more than 50% of the global total.
These patents cover all aspects from mining to material applications, forming a technological “patent jungle”.
China has also established a whole-chain supervision system, and recently seven departments jointly combated strategic mineral smuggling, and only in Shenzhen were seized 50,7 million yuan in smuggling cases.
This closed-loop of "production-supervision-export" has failed the United States and Australia's attempt to break through controls through third-country transshipment and other methods.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Survey found that of more than 1,000 rare-earth weapons systems in the U.S., 87% of the supply chain relies on Chinese suppliers.
The development path of the United States in the field of rare earth is not flat, and the situation of the largest rare earth company in the United States MP Materials is quite representative:
The company in 2024 80% of its revenue came from the export of rare-earth minerals to China, but due to 125% counter-tariffs stagnated, the year-round net loss exceeded $65 million, its investment in $1 billion to build a local refinery, which is still unable to handle heavy rare-earth.
As the largest separation company outside China, even if Australia's Lynas sets up a factory in Malaysia, it still needs to ship oxides to China for refining. In the second half of 2024, the company's net profit was only A $5.9 million, which was less than sixth of market expectations. one.
A fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. strategy lies in underestimating the complexity of the rare earth industry chain. The core value of the rare earth industry lies not in mining but in refining and separation. This is the barrier that China has established for more than half a century.
From the perspective of industrial economics, the "smile curve" of the rare earth supply chain has long been firmly controlled by China.
Australia is targeted by the US-Australian agreement, the rare earth reserves account for only 3%-4%, and more than 90% are light rare earth, while China's mainly controlled medium-weight rare earth, more than 80% of the world's reserves are concentrated in Jiangxi, Fujian and other places, which is the core raw material needed for U.S. F-35 fighter aircraft, nuclear magnetic resonance equipment.
China's leadership in rare earth separation technology was not established overnight, and the United States lacks technology and skilled workers in rare earth mining.
In terms of separation, refining, magnetic manufacturing, high-end manufacturing, the United States has been desolate for years, and it is difficult to repair the entire chain in the short term.
The United States also faces a paradox in catching up in the field of rare earths: if it wants to reach China's technical level and cost control capabilities, it will take a long time to accumulate.
If only satisfied with low levels of self-sufficiency, it will not be able to compete in the global market.
The current global rare earth game has transcended simple trade competition and evolved into a comprehensive competition involving resources, technology, capital and geopolitics.
China has recently added five restricted rare earth elements and imposed stricter export scrutiny on semiconductor users, a move seen as part of a geopolitical game.
Goldman Sachs estimates that if the supply of rare-earth-related industries decreases by 10 percent, global output or losses could reach $150 billion, triggering inflationary pressures.
This figure highlights the strategic value of rare earths, an "industrial vitamin", in the global economy.
The West has invested huge sums of money to build a "de-Chinaized" rare earth supply chain, but the moat of China's rare earth industry lies not in mines, but in the separation technology, complete industrial chain and cost control capabilities accumulated for more than half a century. This cannot be achieved by capital alone. Quickly copied.
Faced with the "historic breakthrough" of rare earths in the United States, Chinese experts were really speechless after reading the details-not because they were frightened, but because they felt that their ideas were really wonderful.
Thro the recent U.S. rare-earth strategy, the Hooley River project in Wyoming has been dedicated to the "star of hope" by U.S. media, and America's rare-earth company announced that it has succeeded in obtaining rare-earth minerals from 840 kilograms of mineral from 36 drilling holes.
The project identified a mineral resource of 14.8 million tons, and the preliminary economic assessment showed a post-tax net current value of $5.58 billion.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense gave Ucore Rare Metals an additional $18.4 million in funding to accelerate the construction of a rare earth separation refinery in Louisiana, which is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2026.
The U.S. Key Materials Company’s collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory has also entered the second phase, planning to build a mid-test-scale processing plant that will process 1-2 tons of mineral per day.
The Trump administration has also signed a $8.5 billion key mineral deal with Australia, which plans to invest $1 billion in mining and processing over the next six months.
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to invest in the construction of a gallium refinery in western Australia. It is estimated that after the refinery is completed, the annual production volume of gallium will reach 100 tons. This plan is gradually advancing.
Compared to the U.S. "point breakthrough", China's advantage in the rare earth field is all-round, according to Goldman Sachs' latest report, China currently controls 69% of the world's rare earth mining, 92% of refining and 98% of magnetic manufacturing capacity.
Data from the International Energy Agency in 2023 shows that China's rare earth refining capacity accounts for as much as 92%.
The advantages of China's rare earth industry are not only reflected in scale, but also in quality and technology. Since 2011, China's rare earth patent applications have ranked first in the world for 14 consecutive years, accounting for more than 50% of the global total.
These patents cover all aspects from mining to material applications, forming a technological “patent jungle”.
China has also established a whole-chain supervision system, and recently seven departments jointly combated strategic mineral smuggling, and only in Shenzhen were seized 50,7 million yuan in smuggling cases.
This closed-loop of "production-supervision-export" has failed the United States and Australia's attempt to break through controls through third-country transshipment and other methods.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Survey found that of more than 1,000 rare-earth weapons systems in the U.S., 87% of the supply chain relies on Chinese suppliers.
The development path of the United States in the field of rare earth is not flat, and the situation of the largest rare earth company in the United States MP Materials is quite representative:
The company in 2024 80% of its revenue came from the export of rare-earth minerals to China, but due to 125% counter-tariffs stagnated, the year-round net loss exceeded $65 million, its investment in $1 billion to build a local refinery, which is still unable to handle heavy rare-earth.
As the largest separation company outside China, even if Australia's Lynas sets up a factory in Malaysia, it still needs to ship oxides to China for refining. In the second half of 2024, the company's net profit was only A $5.9 million, which was less than sixth of market expectations. one.
A fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. strategy lies in underestimating the complexity of the rare earth industry chain. The core value of the rare earth industry lies not in mining but in refining and separation. This is the barrier that China has established for more than half a century.
From the perspective of industrial economics, the "smile curve" of the rare earth supply chain has long been firmly controlled by China.
Australia is targeted by the US-Australian agreement, the rare earth reserves account for only 3%-4%, and more than 90% are light rare earth, while China's mainly controlled medium-weight rare earth, more than 80% of the world's reserves are concentrated in Jiangxi, Fujian and other places, which is the core raw material needed for U.S. F-35 fighter aircraft, nuclear magnetic resonance equipment.
China's leadership in rare earth separation technology was not established overnight, and the United States lacks technology and skilled workers in rare earth mining.
In terms of separation, refining, magnetic manufacturing, high-end manufacturing, the United States has been desolate for years, and it is difficult to repair the entire chain in the short term.
The United States also faces a paradox in catching up in the field of rare earths: if it wants to reach China's technical level and cost control capabilities, it will take a long time to accumulate.
If only satisfied with low levels of self-sufficiency, it will not be able to compete in the global market.
The current global rare earth game has transcended simple trade competition and evolved into a comprehensive competition involving resources, technology, capital and geopolitics.
China has recently added five restricted rare earth elements and imposed stricter export scrutiny on semiconductor users, a move seen as part of a geopolitical game.
Goldman Sachs estimates that if the supply of rare-earth-related industries decreases by 10 percent, global output or losses could reach $150 billion, triggering inflationary pressures.
This figure highlights the strategic value of rare earths, an "industrial vitamin", in the global economy.
The West has invested huge sums of money to build a "de-Chinaized" rare earth supply chain, but the moat of China's rare earth industry lies not in mines, but in the separation technology, complete industrial chain and cost control capabilities accumulated for more than half a century. This cannot be achieved by capital alone. Quickly copied.
Faced with the "historic breakthrough" of rare earths in the United States, Chinese experts were really speechless after reading the details-not because they were frightened, but because they felt that their ideas were really wonderful.