China’s Grip on Critical Minerals

"2025 should nonetheless be a big year for US critical mineral supply chains That's because projects under the mine tomagnet goal are beginning to come to fruition"

"MP is now sending rare earths extracted from Mountain Pass to be refined metallized and turned into magnets in Fort Worth The new facility began commercial production of magnetic metals earlier this year and is expected to slowly scale up magnet production starting in late 2025"

"The goal is to produce 1,000 tons of finished magnets per year which it will supply to General Motors and other manufacturers So it looks like the mine tomagnet box will be ticked in the US by 2027 Then again it looks a little cute when compared to the 300,000 tons of these magnets that China produces annually"

"And this month it finally stopped sending US rare earths to China for processing"

"And this trend is likely to continue in the coming years because China is already exploring the mineralrich depths of the Pacific Ocean in a new frontier that the US has already seeded for ideological reasons"

"The ISA has issued CCZ exploration licenses for deep sea mining to 21 countries and various private companies effectively dividing the seabed up between them"

"As a result the US has no exploration licenses and no voting rights over the rules for commercial mining which are still under development at the ISA"

"But when US defense stockpiles of critical minerals start running out in a month or two just don't be surprised if politicians and lobbyists start humming under the sea in the corridors of the US capital"

"Will this lead to export controls being relaxed Well it's hard to see that happening because this would mean China providing the US with materials for its military once again"