Many countries are stepping up efforts to develop rare earth mineral resources!

I. Progress of Overseas Rare Earth Projects

The board of Critical Metals has officially approved the construction of a multi-purpose storage and pilot plant in Qaqortoq, Greenland, to support its Tanbreez rare earth project. The plant will adopt a turnkey contract model, covering the entire process from engineering, licensing, logistics to commissioning, and is planned to be put into use by May 2026 at the latest. The company has also completed the purchase of local residential properties and transformed them into permanent office and operation bases to strengthen the local layout in the Arctic region. The Tanbreez project, as one of the largest medium and heavy rare earth deposits in the world, has pre-sold 75% of its output to the markets in the United States and Europe, and the remaining 25% purchase agreement is scheduled to be finalized in the first quarter of 2026. The Australian mining company Viridis Mining and the meteoric resources company Meteoric Resources have received preliminary permits from the environmental policy committee of Minas Gerais State in Brazil for their rare earth projects. The Corosus project of Viridis is expected to have an investment of 358 million US dollars, and the Caldera project of Meteoric Resources has an investment of 297 million US dollars. The combined investment of the two is approximately 655 million US dollars. Currently, the company is awaiting final license approval and plans to make a final investment decision in the second half of 2026. The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology announced on January 11th to February 14th that it will conduct deep-sea rare earth trial mining operations in the surrounding waters of Nan'gu Island, planning to extract rare earth mud from a depth of 5,500 meters using the "Earth" drilling ship. This trial mining aims to verify the lifting capacity of 350 tons of mud per day. If successful, a larger-scale test will be launched in 2027.

II. Enterprise Cooperation and Supply Chain Layout

The American permanent magnet manufacturer Mulberry Industries and the rare earth developer Ramaco Resources signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding, planning to supply customized rare earth oxide mixtures from the Brook mine in Wyoming, covering elements such as samarium, neodymium-praseodymium, dysprosium/terbium, etc. Mulberry will use these materials to expand its 10-year rare earth reserves for the production of permanent magnets in defense, aerospace, and electric vehicle sectors. Ramaco's Brook mine is the first new rare earth mine in the United States in over 70 years. It has already started mining operations and is building a pilot processing plant.

III. Policy and International Collaboration Dynamics

The finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) plan to hold a meeting in Washington on January 12th to discuss issues related to rare earth supply security. The topics may include establishing a rare earth price floor mechanism. This move aims to reduce the G7 countries' reliance on a single supply source in the fields of rare earth permanent magnets and battery metals.

IV. Technological Research and Industrial Innovation

The Swedish-Swiss enterprise ABB and the American Noveon Magnetics are promoting the "Green Boundary Diffusion Technology", which can reduce the amount of rare earth used in high-performance magnets by up to 70% by concentrating rare earth elements on the surface or edge areas of the magnets. Currently, this technology has not yet achieved large-scale application due to its high cost. The National Academy of Sciences of the United States released a report titled "Meeting the Mineral Resource Needs of the United States in the Future", stating that the United States is highly dependent on imports for resources such as graphite, manganese, and rare earths, and proposing suggestions such as strengthening mineral resource surveys and using artificial intelligence exploration technologies to enhance supply chain resilience.