Mining the technology gap: why China’s rare earth dominance continues

In 2019, amid an escalating trade war with the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a rare earth magnet factory in Jiangxi province. At the time, the visit was interpreted as: “Flex your muscles” Chinese leaders took the step to remind the United States of its dependence on Beijing for rare earth supplies. Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 important metals Military Defense Systems, Home appliances and Renewable Energy TechnologiesDespite more than a decade of efforts by Western countries and companies to loosen China’s grip, Beijing remains overwhelmingly powerful. Top Players In the global REE mining, processing and refining sector.

Xi’s visit also conveyed China’s broader goals in the rare earths sector beyond mining: maintaining leadership in processing, refining and the downstream industrial supply chain of magnet production. While the semiconductor wars grab attention, another technology war is underway in the rare earths supply chain as China continues to tighten its control over what it calls “rare earths.” “State Resources” and the technology that supports it.

The Western drive to build China-neutral supply chains in both upstream and downstream industries masks a larger technological challenge: building sustainable processing capabilities. Given the risks, a targeted approach is needed to solve processing technology challenges through investment in research and development, international partnerships, and the proliferation of alternative methods.

Rare earths and even rarer technologies?

In 1992, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping famously visited Baotou, Inner Mongolia, home to one of China’s largest rare earth mines. said“The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths,” he said. He was referring to China’s reserves, where it has more than 30 percent of the world’s reserves. But unlike Middle Eastern oil producers, which primarily drill for and export crude, China has built an entire ecosystem around rare earths, from producing and processing the minerals to manufacturing finished products and, most importantly, rare earth magnets.

Bayan Obo rare earth mine in Inner Mongolia, China

China has maintained leadership at every stage. Its share of global production is Soaked It will rise from a staggering 97% in 2011 to around 70% in 2022, still controlling more than 85%. process Capability. China is effective Exclusive Over-processing of major heavy rare earth elements – Dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb), as well as the light rare earth elements neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr).

While the environmental impact is often cited as one of the main reasons for China’s emergence as a rare earth elements power, the technical aspects are less discussed. From 1950 to October 2018, China has recorded more than 25,000 Rare Earth PatentsThat surpassed 10,000 in the United States. For decades, Chinese engineers Finished The solvent extraction process for refining rare earth elements plays a key role in ensuring China’s advantage. origin In the United States, domestic rare earth element development has slowed due to environmental and regulatory concerns. Not feasible.

Processing rare earth elements is a complex task because they exist in solid form in rocks. “Despite slight chemical differences, they all behave in the same way – they bind to the same things under the same conditions and don’t easily separate,” explained Dr Isabel Barton from the University of Arizona.

Rare earth magnet manufacturing process

China is mastering this process, but Western companies are Expertise Achieve similar results. MP Materials and Lynas, the largest rare earth miners outside China, It was hard Despite huge investments from the U.S. government, it is unable to expand its refining capacity. The Pentagon is dependent on China for heavy rare earth elements used in defense applications. Millions of dollars We call on these companies and others to fully domesticate the REE supply chain from “mine to magnets.”

Meanwhile, Beijing is trying to defend its crown jewel. In June, China Declared China has drawn up new rules for the mining, smelting and trade of rare earths as a national resource. Export Ban About the technology involved in mining, processing, and manufacturing magnets.

New technology for an old problem?

Given the limited accessibility and environmental costs of China-controlled solvent extraction technology, several research projects are underway to find cleaner, more sustainable processing methods. DARPA– called the funding program Ember (Environmental Microorganisms as Bioengineering Resources) Using microorganisms to process and refine rare earth elements. Marina Kaliuzhnaya, a biologist and the project’s lead researcher, called it an “intensive program” and argued that biological approaches could play a key role: “The goal is to isolate the REEs, and biology may have enough specificity or selectivity to exclude individual minerals from complex mixtures.” She added that the goal is to make something “fully sustainable,” but acknowledged that despite exciting progress, the project’s scalability is at least four to five years away.

The Mountain Pass mine in California is the only operating rare earth mine in the United States.

A vision for targeted diversification

Besides investing in new technologies, the US and other Western governments are also Nationwide and International Steps are being taken to diversify supply chains. Despite these efforts, mining consultancy Benchmark Minerals says project By 2028, China’s share of both heavy and light rare earth processing will decline only slightly.

There are many reasons for this grim forecast. First, Western governments are trying to focus on every step of the supply chain simultaneously, without prioritizing one over the other, creating inefficiencies and wasted resources. Second, current policies divert attention from the larger technical challenge of establishing sustainable processing and refining capacity outside of China.

To solve this, increase R&D investments for cleaner processing solutions that match or exceed China’s cumulative investments. The United States also needs to address its processing know-how gap as a strategic technology challenge, not just a pollution problem.Government-led investment is essential to generate private interest, but attempts to domesticate every component of the REE supply chain will be counterproductive in the long run. The U.S. should work with its allies to develop a REE-specific strategy and encourage the development of regional hubs. It took China nearly 30 years to dominate the REE supply chain, but if diversification efforts are successful, it may not be that long.