alt Hacker NewsA near monopoly on rare earth mineral mining and refining certainly must play a part.
Replies
thehappypm • today at 2:20 AM
How are rare earths used in batteries?
A near monopoly on rare earth mineral mining and refining certainly must play a part.
How are rare earths used in batteries?
It's a "near monopoly" because a bunch of engineers made a plan, stuck to it, and now have vertical integration.
There's nothing preventing others from also processing concentrates (the post physical mining product).
The mining aspect is hardly monopolised either - much is sourced from Australia, South America, etc.
Put in an order, buy a 49% share of a resource company and now you're part of the action.