Why have overseas media stopped reporting on rare earths recently?

The rare earth industry is entering a clear expansion phase. Over the past few years, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Europe have successively increased investments in mining, separation, and permanent magnet materials; some projects that had long remained at the planning stage have now begun commercial production. Meanwhile, technological pathways—including heavy rare earth separation, recycling of end-of-life magnets, and rare-earth-free permanent magnet materials—are also accelerating industrialization. From the current development trajectory, the primary challenge facing the overseas rare earth industry is no longer "whether rare earth deposits exist," but rather how to convert geographically dispersed mineral resources into stable, large-scale separation capacity—and further develop capabilities for producing metals, alloys, and high-performance permanent magnets. I. Mineral resources are not scarce; overseas mining scale is already substantial. According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, global rare earth ore production in 2025 was approximately 390,000 tonnes of rare earth oxide (REO) equivalent. The U.S. produced about 51,000 tonnes; Australia, 29,000 tonnes; Myanmar, ~22,000 tonnes; Thailand, 4,800 tonnes; India, 2,900 tonnes; Madagascar, 2,700 tonnes; Russia, 2,600 tonnes; and Brazil, ~2,000 tonnes. Combined output from major overseas producing regions reached roughly 120,000 tonnes REO. More notably, reserves are substantial. Brazil’s officially reported rare earth reserves stand at ~21 million tonnes REO—making it one of the world’s most significant potential resource hubs; Australia holds ~6.3 million tonnes; Russia, ~3.8 million tonnes; Vietnam, ~3.5 million tonnes; the U.S., ~1.9 million tonnes; and Canada’s confirmed resource base is also considerable. Region 2025 Mine Production Reported Reserves U.S. 51,000 tonnes 1.9 million tonnes Australia 29,000 tonnes 6.3 million tonnes Myanmar 22,000 tonnes — Thailand 4,800 tonnes — India 2,900 tonnes — Madagascar 2,700 tonnes — Russia 2,600 tonnes 3.8 million tonnes Brazil 2,000 tonnes 21 million tonnes Vietnam 150 tonnes 3.5 million tonnes Thus, from the perspective of geological resources and mining potential, there is no fundamental resource constraint limiting future output expansion. What truly requires differentiation is the value of different rare earth deposits. U.S. Mountain Pass and Australian Mt Weld deposits are predominantly light-rare-earth–rich, enabling large-scale supply of lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium/praseodymium used in permanent magnets. In contrast, high-grade resources containing heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium are far scarcer—making ion-adsorption clays, xenotime, and certain monazite deposits strategically more valuable. Brazil’s Serra Verde represents one of the more important new projects in this domain. Its Pela Ema deposit is an ion-adsorption clay-type mine, which entered commercial production in 2024 and can supply neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium simultaneously. The company plans to raise output to ~6,400 tonnes TREO by end-2027 and explore further mining-scale expansion before 2030. This signals that overseas rare earth mining is evolving beyond merely increasing light-rare-earth supply—and increasingly extending into heavy-rare-earth resources. II. The genuinely difficult stages lie downstream of mining. Transforming a rare earth ore into a permanent magnet entails a lengthy industrial chain: Mining → Ore dressing → Cracking & leaching → Mixed rare earth → Single-element separation → Oxides → Metals → Alloys → Magnetic powder → Permanent magnets.

How should we view Brazil’s rare earth company issuing new shares to raise USD 78 million for developing high-grade rare earth deposits and advancing construction of a refining plant on October 15, 2025?

Executive Summary: To reduce dependence on China’s rare earths, Brazil is experiencing a new wave of rare earth development—currently advancing 2,758 rare earth projects, eleven times the total number launched over the previous 50 years. Brazil hosts the world’s largest ion-adsorption clay deposit, conferring unique advantages in mining—and has attracted massive investment from Western capital, including from the U.S. and Australia. However, significant gaps remain between Brazil and China in rare earth refining and deep processing; achieving genuine competitiveness will still require considerable time. I. Brazil is igniting a rare earth “gold rush,” aiming to become a viable competitor to China in the rare earth sector. Resource-rich South American powerhouse Brazil is now striving to become an alternative supplier of rare earth materials—meeting Western nations’ urgent need to reduce reliance on Chinese rare earths. Today, this BRICS nation located within the Amazon rainforest has drawn substantial international capital and is concurrently advancing over two thousand rare earth development projects. Ambitious Brazil aims to challenge China’s dominance in the rare earth industry—but how far does it still have to go to achieve real competitive parity? Brazil is currently experiencing a new “gold rush”—but this time, participants aren’t seeking traditional gold. Instead, they’re chasing rare earth elements: indispensable, even more coveted than gold, for manufacturing modern technology products. This rush is centered on Brazil’s Caldeira rare earth deposit—the world’s largest ion-adsorption clay deposit. Andrew Tunks, Chairman of Australian mining firm Meteoric Resources—and a geologist by training—told German media: “The next generation of major rare earth projects will be located in Brazil. I don’t know exactly how long that will take—but ultimately, Brazil will possess the capability to compete with China.” Over the past two years, Australian mining firms have focused intensively on rare earth mining projects in Brazil. In Minas Gerais state, Meteoric’s Caldeira project targets extraction from the world’s largest ion-adsorption clay deposit—a key source of heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium, essential for high-performance magnetic materials used in wind turbines, electric vehicles, and semiconductors. II. Investment in Brazilian rare earths is surging explosively. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global demand for rare earth minerals used in magnet production has doubled since 2015—and is projected to grow by at least another 30% by 2030. Currently, China holds 44 million tonnes of rare earth reserves—the world’s largest. Second place belongs to Brazil, estimated at ~21 million tonnes. Surging global demand has triggered an explosive rise in exploration license applications received by Brazil’s National Mining Agency. According to its data, a total of 2,758 projects are now underway—eleven times the number submitted over the preceding 50 years. Between 1975 and 2020—nearly half a century—Brazilian authorities received only around 250 rare earth exploration applications. This rare earth investment boom is also evident in equity markets. Stock prices of companies investing in Brazilian rare earths are soaring. In April this year, USA Rare Earth, Inc. acquired an operating rare earth mine in Brazil from Serra Verde for a staggering €2.8 billion.

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