Why are Rare Earth Minerals/Metals Critical?
While most of the attention is commonly focused on growing demand for lithium to power ever-larger batteries, these ultra powerful magnets are what convert motion into electricity, and the White House says 87% of that market is controlled by China.
Although Russia is a major mineral exporter, including several rare earth minerals, it is not a major supplier of these specific elements. Even so, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has elevated the urgency of onshoring as much of this production as quickly as possible.

A tray of core samples taken at the American Rare Earths drilling operation in Wyoming. Dane Rhys
What makes magnets made with these elements special is they are more resistant to demagnetization that can occur at high temperatures or vibrations, such as the conditions that can appear during the operation of an EV motor, power turbine, or drone rotor. If a magnet loses its polarity, it’s no longer useful in converting electricity.
Of course, mining the raw materials is only the beginning of a much longer process, and the US currently has no capacity to turn its own rare earth supply into useful products. For now, what gets mined in California is shipped over to China for refining and manufacturing.
The push to keep more of that supply chain in the US is seeing mounting political support as well.
In January, Senators Tom Cotton and Mark Kelly introduced legislation that would establish a stockpile through the Department of Defense and require defense contractors to stop buying rare earths from China by 2026.
And earlier in April, Senators Marco Rubio and Cindy Hyde-Smith introduced a bill that would provide funding through the Department of Energy to support domestic manufacturing of finished rare earth products.
“Relying on a hostile regime in Beijing for these critical products poses a serious national and economic security problem. We need to take immediate action to onshore these operations,” Rubio said in a statement.
President Biden has also issued several executive orders over the past year directing investment and partnerships to boost the onshoring of this industry, describing US reliance on other nations as a threat to national and economic security.

An American Rare Earths geologist writes notes on a rock sample. Dane Rhys