3 ms·

China will lose its rare earth minerals near monopoly?

• ceejayoz 2y ago
  They never really had one. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/11/norway-discovers-europes-largest-deposit-of-rare-earth-metals.html https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/11/norway-discovers-europes-lar... https://www.wsj.com/articles/wyoming-hits-the-rare-earth-mother-lode-natural-resources-policy-china-mining-8e559cec https://www.wsj.com/articles/wyoming-hits-the-rare-earth-mot... They're not that rare, China's just a place that can extract it cheaply and not care too much about pollution.
  • hexator 2y ago
    Neither of those deposits are being extracted in large enough scale yet to make a dent in the near-monopoly China has.
    • ceejayoz 2y ago
      Only because it hasn't really been necessary.
      • hexator 2y ago
        And because it's not economical and there hasn't been sufficient government subsidies as of yet to mine them. The barrier is quite high, and it's not clear if tariffs are enough.
        • ceejayoz 2y ago
          Tarriffs will not be enough. A trade war / embargo will be.
          • JumpCrisscross 2y ago
            > trade war / embargo will be Unclear. Historically, this just shifts production from the warring parties to neutrals. (An effect amplified by economies of scale.)
            • ceejayoz 2y ago
              I'd count that as a win, personally.
  • JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > China's just a place that can extract it cheaply and not care too much about pollution Welcome to the new Ukraine.