US Negotiates with Australia on Rare Earths Plant

The US is negotiating with Australia host a facility that would process rare earths to reduce reliance on China for the specialized materials used in military equipment, according to Reuters' report on August 26, local time.

The push comes as China threatens to curb exports to the US of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals found in fighter jets, tanks, and high-tech consumer electronics. China is the world's largest processor and producer of the minerals accounting for more than 80 percent of global processing capacity.

Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's under-secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said to reporters at an event in Washington on the same day: "We are concerned about any fragility in the supply chain and especially where an adversary controls the supply," Lord said that the U.S. Department of Defense looking at several options to partner on rare earth processing plants, "one of the highest potential avenues is to work with Australia," she added.

Lord said that this year she has had several meetings with Australian officials to discuss whether such a factory can meet the Pentagon's needs. As the intensification of China-US trade war, the U.S. Department of Defense update came after the US said earlier this year that it would look to Australia and Canada to develop rare earth minerals around the world to reduce the global reliance on China. It has also held talks with rare earth minerals projects across Africa.

Australian Department of Defence officials said that the cooperation between the two sides in key minerals had begun in 2018 was ongoing. "Continuity and guarantee of supply of rare earths and critical minerals are vital to a range of sectors, including defense. Cooperation with international partners is integral to this effort," a Defence spokeswoman said.

On July 22, US President Trump ordered the Pentagon to find some better ways to purchase a range of magnets made from rare earth elements, warning that the nation's defense would suffer without adequate stockpiles.

Reuters reported that Lynas Corp in Australia is the world's largest rare earths miner and processor outside of China, and the company plans to have an initial processing plant up in domestic within the next four years as well as developing a plant in Texas to supply the US’s demand on critical minerals.

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