Can the West break the Chinese monopoly on rare earths?

These metals are essential ingredients in all types of high-tech products, including smartphones, laptops, hybrid cars, wind turbines and solar cells, among others.

They also have important applications in defense, such as jet fighter engines, missile guidance systems, anti-missile defense, space satellites and communication systems.

Despite their name, rare earths are abundant in the Earth’s crust, some even more common than substances such as copper, lead, gold and platinum.

However, they are rarely found in concentrations high enough to be extracted economically. In addition to China, deposits of rare earth metals can be found in countries such as Canada, Australia, USA, Brazil, India, South Africa and Russia.

Strategic elements are typically divided into two categories according to the separation process. China has a near monopoly on processing the heavy rare earth category.

According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a British company that researches and prices minerals for the energy transition, Chinese companies account for up to 99% of global processing of heavy rare earths.