In this week’s Where Stuff Comes From Briefing: How and why Rare Earth Elements and Afghanistan are a massive opportunity for whoever seizes it (re: China). Cheers, Max What to Read and Watch About Rare Earths, Afghanistan and China: Afghanistan’s Mineral Resources Are a Lost Opportunity and a Threat China Read more…
Gone are the days of steel and fuel defining world superpowers.
Today’s technological and economic superpowers earned their enviable positions based on their unique abilities to explore and utilize untapped parts of the periodic table (and the world) to unlock new technological capabilities made possible only by the most exotic of elements.
But right now, China controls 97% of the production of United States rare-earth metal imports.
Critical minerals source security is one of the greatest threats that the United States faces heading into this new decade. The country faces many challenges on the road to critical mineral independence, but with well-thought-out sourcing strategy and proper risk management, the United States federal government and industrial base will come out with a secure and reliable critical minerals supply chain.