Will China's rare earth monopoly soon end? U.S. company invents proprietary rare earth separation technology!

This news must have thrilled Americans! A U.S. company has invented a new mineral separation technology capable of significantly improving the efficiency of separating rare earth elements, uranium, and other minerals—while simultaneously lowering costs and reducing environmental pollution. For years, rare earths have hung over the United States like the Sword of Damocles. As the saying goes: "The Middle East has oil; China has rare earths." Not only does China possess vast rare earth reserves, but it also leads the world in rare earth smelting and separation technologies. The U.S. does have domestic rare earth deposits—but they are relatively small, and more critically, even when mined, high-purity processing requires shipping the ore to China for refining, then re-importing the finished products. For instance, in 2017, over 90% of U.S. demand for refined and separated rare earth products was met by Chinese exports. This dependency left the U.S. deeply uneasy—what if China cut off supply? The U.S. would be instantly strangled at the neck. Now, however, this situation may change. About Rare Earths First, let’s clarify: rare earths are not soil—they are metals. Specifically, the term refers collectively to 17 metallic elements: the 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. In other words, any ore containing even one of these elements qualifies as a rare earth deposit. How vital are they? Put simply, nearly all modern high-tech products rely on rare earths—smartphones, electric vehicles, and even advanced weaponry. Without rare earths, U.S. F-22 and F-35 fighter jets couldn’t fly; nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers would be crippled. During the Gulf War, night-vision devices doped with lanthanum—a rare earth element—gave U.S. tanks an overwhelming battlefield advantage. A former U.S. military officer even declared: "The seemingly miraculous military achievements of the Gulf War were, in a sense, made possible by rare earths." Put vividly: many technologies achieve their peak performance only with rare earth enhancement. U.S. Rare Earth Separation Technology Mining rare earths is relatively straightforward—the real challenge lies in separation, purification, and refining: extracting individual rare earth elements from raw ore. Globally, China holds an undisputed, commanding lead in this critical technology. Yet now, a U.S. company has announced that the rules of the game may soon shift—thanks to its newly developed rare earth separation technology. Specifically, the company has created a technique called High-Pressure Slurry Abrasion (HPSA), which exploits differences in mineral hardness to achieve clean mechanical separation of mixed ores. Rare earth separation typically involves several key steps: ore processing, grinding, and separation. Processing converts raw rare earth ore into a form suitable for further treatment—via crushing, screening, and flotation. Next, the ore is ground further to liberate rare earth minerals, usually using equipment such as ball mills, rod mills, and attrition scrubbers. This grinding step is especially crucial—and accounts for roughly 40% of total processing costs. After grinding, rare earth minerals must be separated from gangue minerals and other impurities. Once isolated, the rare earth elements require additional refining and purification to meet required purity and quality standards. Now, the U.S. claims its HPSA machines can replace conventional methods at this critical separation stage. By pumping mineral slurry through high-pressure nozzles into a collision chamber, particles collide forcefully. Due to differences in hardness and physical properties, they selectively fracture and pulverize—enabling subsequent separation via sieves of varying mesh sizes.

A U.S. rare earth company invests over €175 million in France—how will this affect the global rare earth supply chain?

USA Rare Earth (USAR)—the company’s official name and Nasdaq ticker symbol—is planning to invest over €175 million (US$204 million) in France by 2030. This "additional" investment represents one outcome of two earlier USAR initiatives in France: 1. The Lacq Rare Earth Metal Alloy Production Plant—the company’s first rare earth project in France. Part of this new investment will expand core production capacity there. 2. In April, USAR jointly executed a strategic investment in Carester SAS alongside European infrastructure fund InfraVia. Each acquired a 12.5% stake in Carester. Under the agreement, USAR may ship rare earth concentrates from its Round Top mine in Texas to Carester for deep processing—and has secured a 15-year procurement contract for heavy rare earth elements. The scale of this investment is substantial. Underpinning it is America’s ambition to reconstruct the global rare earth supply chain—with initial priorities focused on meeting domestic needs and those of strategic allies—backed by $1.6 billion in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce. (Another major U.S. rare earth enterprise is MP Materials—the only U.S. company currently operating a fully integrated, commercially scaled rare earth production chain. It operates under U.S. Department of Defense support, and Tesla sources its rare earths from MP Materials. In contrast, USAR focuses outward on international partnerships, while MP Materials concentrates on domestic operations.) USAR’s Global Footprint: In brief: • Upstream mining: United States + Brazil • Midstream separation & refining: Colorado (USA) + United Kingdom + France • Downstream metal alloys & magnets: Oklahoma (USA) + France

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