[REEs] A Visual Chronicle of the 2025 Mineral Alliance

2025 稀土礦產聯盟的視覺編年史

"中国"商務部在十月早些時候宣布擴大對稀土及其技術出口的限制，以防止其在軍事及其他敏感領域的使用。 喺2025年10月20日，美國同澳洲簽咗一份價值85億美元嘅稀土同關鍵礦產協議，目的係確保供應鏈同應對中國嘅主導地位。呢份協議係全球稀土交易市場近期最重要嘅一單交易。

China's Commerce Ministry earlier October announced expanded curbs on the export of rare earths and its technologies, seeking to prevent their use in the military and other sensitive sectors.

On October 20, 2025, the United States and Australia signed an $8.5 billion rare earth and critical minerals agreement aimed at securing supply chains and countering China’s dominance. This is the most significant recent deal in the global rare earth trading landscape.

Here’s a detailed summary of the key developments:

US–Australia Rare Earths Agreement

Signed by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House.

Scope: A strategic framework to secure supply chains for rare earths and critical minerals essential to defense and clean energy sectors.

Investment Pipeline: Up to $8.5 billion in joint projects, including rare earth processing facilities in Australia.

Participants: Companies like Alcoa are expected to be involved in the trilateral project groups.

Geopolitical Context: The deal comes as China tightens export controls on its own critical minerals, prompting Western allies to diversify sourcing.

Diplomatic Tone: While the deal strengthens US-Australia ties, Trump reportedly took care not to antagonize China directly during the signing.

Other Notable Developments

China’s Export Restrictions: Beijing has imposed stricter rules on rare earth exports, especially heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium, intensifying global supply concerns.

Western Strategic Moves:

The EU and Canada are also ramping up rare earth investments, though no deals as large as the US-Australia pact have been announced this month.

US-based companies like USA Rare Earth and NioCorp are receiving increased institutional backing and favorable analyst ratings.

Strategic Implications

This deal is not just economic—it’s geopolitical, reinforcing the AUKUS alliance and signaling a shift toward Western-led rare earth independence.

Analysts caution that while the deal is a strong start, it won’t immediately displace China’s dominance, which still controls over 60% of global rare earth refining.

SOURCE: COPILOT

[REEs] Parallelization can be used to improve the rare earth metal refining process output?

平行化可以用來改善稀土金屬精煉流程的產量嗎？

For rare earth metal refining, a country with an older technology can simply multified the operation unit (in parallel) for the separation to achieve multiple times output per year, since separation is the critical step. While other steps such as ore-processing can simply be increased in the batch size. And here is the comment from an AI.

Your understanding is partially correct, but rare earth separation is far more complex and less scalable than it might seem. Simply multiplying units or increasing batch sizes doesn't guarantee proportional output gains.

Here's a breakdown of the key factors:

Why Rare Earth Separation Is Hard to Scale

Separation is the most technically demanding step: Rare earth elements (REEs) are chemically similar, making their separation extremely complex. It involves multi-stage solvent extraction, ion exchange, or membrane-based techniques, often requiring hundreds of stages.

Parallelization isn’t straightforward: Unlike ore crushing or roasting, separation units require precise control of pH, temperature, and flow rates. Scaling by duplication introduces challenges in maintaining consistency, yield, and purity across units.

Expertise bottleneck: Countries with older tech often lack the specialized engineering talent and process knowledge needed to optimize and troubleshoot parallel separation systems.

Environmental and regulatory constraints: Separation generates toxic waste and requires strict environmental controls. Scaling up means scaling compliance, which can be costly and slow.

While ore-processing steps can often be scaled by increasing batch sizes or equipment capacity, rare earth separation is not easily multiplied in parallel due to its chemical complexity, precision requirements, and environmental risks. Countries with older technology may face diminishing returns unless they invest in process innovation, automation, and skilled personnel.

[REEs] Top Countries with High-Purity Rare Earth Refining Capabilities 具備高純度稀土精煉能力的主要國家

China, the United States, Australia, and Brazil lead in high-purity rare earth metal production and refining, while countries like Turkey, Myanmar, and Pakistan are emerging players with significant reserves but limited refining capacity.

Here’s a comprehensive overview of the global landscape:

Emerging or Strategic Players

Turkey

Reserves: Claims of 694 million tons of rare earth elements in Beylikova, Eskişehir—possibly the world’s second-largest deposit.

Technology: Currently lacks full-scale refining infrastructure but aims to become a top-five global player.

Partnerships: In talks with the U.S. for joint development and refining projects.

Myanmar (Burma)

Production: China’s largest external source of rare earths, especially heavy rare earths like dysprosium.

Technology: Limited domestic refining; most raw materials are exported to China for processing.

Concerns: Mining is concentrated in conflict zones, with environmental and human rights issues.

Pakistan

Reserves: Rich in monazite, xenotime, and bastnaesite across Punjab, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Technology: No domestic refining yet; first rare earth shipment sent to the U.S. in 2025 under a $500M deal.

Russia

Reserves: Modest but strategic.

Technology: Developing refining capacity, especially for defense and aerospace needs.

India

Reserves: Coastal monazite sands.

Technology: Developing refining through state-owned entities; still limited in scale.

Why Refining Matters

Producing high-purity rare earths involves:

Separation of chemically similar elements.

Purification to 99.9%+ levels for use in magnets, lasers, and electronics.

Environmental controls to manage radioactive byproducts.

Pakistan and Chinese Refining Technology: What’s True So Far

Strategic Cooperation Exists: Pakistan and China have a long-standing partnership under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which includes mining and mineral development. China has helped Pakistan explore and assess rare earth deposits, especially in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Technology Transfer Is Limited: While China has provided geological surveys and some technical support, Pakistan has not yet acquired full-scale rare earth refining technology. The country lacks the infrastructure for high-purity separation and processing — the most complex and critical part of the supply chain.

Recent Developments:

In 2025, Pakistan made its first rare earth shipment to the U.S., including neodymium and antimony, under a $500 million deal with U.S. Strategic Metals.

This suggests growing international interest, but the refining was likely done outside Pakistan — possibly in the U.S. or China.

Future Potential: Pakistan could develop refining capabilities through joint ventures or tech transfer agreements, especially with China or Western partners. But as of now, it remains primarily a raw material supplier.