Money and ‘a lot of noise’: how the US’ critical-minerals industry is vying with China’s
Patriot Critical Minerals of the US plans to dig into a long-abandoned mining site in the sparsely populated state of Nevada to extract tungsten, an important raw material with industrial uses ranging from aerospace gear to common cutting tools. The company, with only that single asset, is applying to the US departments of defence and energy for funding – now more readily available as President…
The US critical-minerals industry is competing with China for resources such as tungsten, a vital raw material used in various industries. Patriot Critical Minerals, a US company, is planning to extract tungsten from an abandoned mine in Nevada with the support of federal funding from the defense and energy departments. However, the process has been slowed down due to a shortage of government staff processing the applications.
The funding has been pouring into the industry since the start of Donald Trump's presidency, with a total of $18.6 billion invested, but analysts believe it is too scattered and the environmental rules are too strict for US producers to compete with Chinese prices. China holds about 60% of the world's rare earth mining production and 90% of processing and refining.
The US government has taken steps like signing an agreement with MP Materials, the largest US producer of rare earth metals, to invest $400 million and acquire a 15% stake. Despite these efforts, reaching China's level of critical-minerals output in the US at competitive prices would take years due to the technical complexity involved in scaling up production and the high environmental regulations in some areas.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
