
Rare-Earths Plants Are Popping Up Outside China
Saul Zimet
created: June 20, 2025, 7:32 p.m. | updated: June 23, 2025, 9:25 p.m.
“In a warehouse deep in Brazil’s savanna, machines churn through piles of red clay to produce chalky rocks packed with metals critical for making electric cars, smartphones and missiles.
But what is particularly precious about these minerals is their intended destination: They are bound for the U.S., not China.
China mines some 70% of the world’s rare earths, the 17 metallic elements primarily used in magnets needed for civilian and military technologies.
But its 90% share of processing for rare earths mined around the world is what really concerns officials from other countries working to secure their supply.
Aclara signed an agreement last year to supply rare earths to VAC, a German company that is building a factory in South Carolina with $94 million in Pentagon funding to make magnets for clients including General Motors.
4 weeks ago: HumanProgress