How the US gave up its edge to China in processing vital rare earth minerals – and what that’s costing

Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metals essential for modern technology, despite their name suggesting scarcity.

Elements like neodymium, cerium, and erbium are found in everyday devices such as smartphones, electric vehicles, and military equipment like F-35 fighter jets.

For example, neodymium is used in magnets for phone vibrations, while cerium polishes screens and reduces vehicle exhaust.

These metals are not actually rare in the Earth’s crust—cerium is as abundant as copper—but separating them from raw ore is complex and costly.

This separation process is dominated by China, which in 2024 mined 60% of the world’s rare earths for magnets and processed 91% of global supply.

The U.S.

has its own rare earth deposits, like the Mountain Pass mine in California, but lacks large-scale processing facilities.