alt Hacker NewsJust raw/intermediate inputs, not processed HREE. Leached from ionic clay, only economically extractable formation which PRC has ample access (hence dominance), geologically limited outside Asia/Australia (AKA economically extractable heavy rare earth, is in fact, rare). Again, partially processed, looks 2% of global output. Still has to be sent to separation plant for final processing, i.e. someone has to reproduce the entire PRC solvent-extraction stack at industrial scale, which is TBD from USA Rare Earth. This like upstart semi company getting wafers, but have to invent litho machine to print anything - the entire tech stack is Chinese, refined in PRC over last 30 years - needs to be replicated (and improved to US environment standards). USARE has a small batch pilot run, which is TRL5/6, i.e. theoretically where PRC EUV prototype is. This basically PR release about securing dirt.
I've heard that it could cost well north of a trillion to actually wean off China's supply, if it's even possible: this stuff is key to military strategy, and the US dependency on rare earths from China prevents it from being able to attack China militarily. So China's obvious move, if the US is remotely serious about extricating itself from dependency, is to use the same export controls the US has leveraged on AI chips. Endgame in an escalatory path is US high tech, including the defense sector, being hollowed out.
On top of all this, the rare earths industry in China has a serious patent moat. The US would likely need to violate patents to match China's level of production, which would basically be a huge gift to China since they'd then be justified in doing the same.