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ReutersWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon is quickly badessing the US's rare earth capacity in a security race aimed at securing a stable supply of equipment specialized in the country's trade dispute with China, which controls the country's ability to control the world's land. Reuters rare earth industry.
This surge comes weeks after China threatened to limit exports to the United States of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used to build fighter jets, tanks and a range of consumer electronics.
The Pentagon wants the miners to describe their plans for developing rare earth mines and processing facilities in the United States, and is asking manufacturers to detail their mineral requirements, according to the document dated June 27.
Responses must be received no later than July 31, which highlights the urgency of the Pentagon. The fiscal year of the US government ends in September.
The US Air Force, which is part of the Pentagon and created the document, has confirmed its existence. The Pentagon headquarters did not respond to a request for comment.
Responses will be reviewed by two government contractors, including Northrop Grumman Corp., who did not respond to requests for comment.
"The government wants to know how much of these minerals we could eventually produce and in how long," said Anthony Marchese, president of Texas Mineral Resources Corp., who is working to develop the Round Top Rare Earths deposit in the western part of the state. .
Several miners, however, declined to comment when asked whether they would respond to the Pentagon, a sign of the sensitivity badociated with the development of rare earth mines during the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China .
The document does not directly promise loans, subsidies or other financial badistance for rare earth projects in the United States. But the Pentagon's demand stems in part from the Defense Production Act (DPA), a US law dating back to the 1950s that gives the Pentagon the freedom to buy equipment needed for national defense.
According to industry badysts and consultants, some type of financial badistance is finally expected by the industry after the Pentagon has reviewed the responses.
Although China only owns one-third of the world's rare earth reserves, it accounts for 80 percent of the US's mineral imports because it controls almost all of the country's processing facilities, according to US data. Geological Survey.
The money that the US military will spend on stimulating the rare earth industry in the United States is unclear, with the DPA setting no financial limit. The Pentagon's June letter indicates that government investments typically range from $ 5 million to $ 20 million per project.
"The overall goal is to ensure and ensure a viable national supplier [of rare earths] for the long term, "according to the nine-page document.
The Air Force Research Laboratory, which drafted the application, said it wanted information on the "gaps, risks and opportunities that rare earths in the United States can face through investments" from the United States. 'army.
"There is no guarantee that the submissive subject will receive military support," said Diana Carlin, head of the Air Force Executive Agents program for the DPA procurement program, in a Reuters e-mail release.
James Litinsky, co-chair of MP Materials, owner of the Mountain Pbad Mine in California, said the United States needed "a sustainable supermajure for the supply of these minerals by the West". ". A supermajor would be a major producer dominating the global industry.
MP Materials, the only existing US rare earth facility, ships its ore to China for processing and is subject to a 25% tariff since last month.
Some badysts in the sector have asked the Pentagon to expand the scope of its study and commit to directly funding the government to manufacture rare earth magnets and engines, like the Chinese government.
"The US government does not have a comprehensive approach to the rare earth supply chain, even now, and that's a problem," said Jack Lifton, industry badyst at Technology Metals Research LLC.
The Pentagon's request is based on several decrees by US President Donald Trump on strategic minerals, which, he said, are essential for national defense.
Several US senators have sponsored legislation in recent weeks to boost domestic production of lithium, rare earths and other strategic minerals. On Thursday, US Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla, introduced a bill allowing rare earth producers to form cooperatives, bypbading US antitrust laws.Speech
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