US Allocates $800 Million for Rare Earths and Strategic Minerals Research

The pandemic aid and spending package signed by US President Donald Trump last Sunday includes more than $800 million to fund rare earths and strategic minerals research, which was appreciated by mining companies. Some experts pointed out that no matter how China-US relations develop, we should expect that China will gradually reduce exports of rare earths in the future as domestic environmental protection awareness rises.

The $2.3 trillion, 5,593-page bill essentially codifies Trump's executive orders on rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used to make magnets for electric vehicles, other green technologies and weapons. According to Reuters, the bill requires better geological research on federal land, funding research on rare earth processing and recycling, and supporting improvements in mining education programs.

Rare earths are raw materials for the manufacture of electric vehicles and other environmental protection technologies and weapons. China has always been a major exporter. Due to the relatively serious damage to the environment, the domestic production in the United States has gradually decreased over the years, and it has mainly relied on imports. As U.S.-China relations deteriorate, resuming domestic production in the United States has become a top priority for Washington.

June Teufel Dreyer, a senior researcher on the Asian Program of the Foreign Policy Institute of the US Think Tank and a professor of political science at the University of Miami, pointed out at a seminar at the Institute on January 12 that one of West Virginia University is funded by the US Department of Energy. The research project aims to extract rare earth elements with economic and strategic value from mines in the Appalachian region.

The latest report shows that this research plan has reached a new milestone in the part of the rare earth recovery process and the improvement of the purity of rare earth mining. "This is a good start on the technical side," June said.

However, how to make the rare earth supply chain get commercial benefits and avoid further damage to the earth's ecology is still a big problem, and when fossil fuels are gradually replaced due to raising environmental awareness, the problem of unemployment for workers in the fossil fuel industry must also be resolved, not only in the United States, but also in China.

According to statistics, the world's total rare earth reserves are about 126 million tons, and China's reserves account for 44% of the world's total reserves. The rising awareness of China's domestic environmental protection will induce China to reserve production for its domestic demand. The US has to face up to solving the problem of production, and it cannot stop dealing with it.

Saleem H. Ali, Distinguished Professor of Energy and Environment at the University of Delaware, who also serves as the United Nations International Resources Committee, said that the United Nations Environment Assembly has issues on the environmental and social performance of member states in the governance of rare earths and strategic minerals. Saleem believes that the importance of regulating mining governance through international agreements lies in the consideration of environmental and social factors. Countries need to reach a consensus on how to provide resources for infrastructure.

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