MELBOURNE/RIO DE JANEIRO - Mining giant Brazil has big ambitions to build a rare earths industry as Western economies push to secure the metals needed for magnets used in green energy and defence and break China's dominance of the supply chain.
Brazil holds the world's third-largest rare earth reserves. The country's first rare earths mine, Serra Verde, started commercial production this year. The U.S. and its allies, almost entirely dependent on China for rare earths metals and magnets, set out to build a separate supply chain by 2027 after deliveries were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic early this decade.China produced 240,000 metric tons of rare earths last year, more than five times the next biggest producer, the United States, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.
"It is still a nascent sector which will require continued support to establish itself in a highly competitive market. Key processing technologies are controlled by a small number of players," he said. In March, the U.S. Export-Import Bank expressed interest in providing Meteoric up to $250 million for the project. The company also has a preliminary deal to supply rare earth oxides to a separation plant in Estonia run by Toronto-listed Neo Performance Materials.
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