One of our viewers asked whether America is building facilities to refine rare earth minerals to reduce reliance on China’s supply chain.
The answer is a resounding yes. From pilot plants to larger commercial operations, rare earth refining facilities are being built in the United States. However, they are still in the early stages of scaling up.
Here are several examples: Phoenix Tailings opened a rare earth refinery in Massachusetts to process rare earth metals domestically instead of exporting the ores abroad. In Indiana, ReElement Technologies is expanding refining capacity to produce refined rare earth oxides.
Smaller companies are also building rare earth refineries in Wyoming, Utah, Texas, and Louisiana. Most of the new development mentioned above occurred last year under the Trump administration.