Element 17

The Busan Truce Expires in 47 Days. Xi Is at the White House Today.

Sep 24, 2026

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5 min read

The Busan Truce Expires in 47 Days. Xi Is at the White House Today.

Trump has backed down at every summit since Osaka 2019. Reuters says rare earth dependency is the reason why — and the pattern is holding.

Bessent and He Lifeng Spent Sunday at JP Morgan. Rare Earths Made the Agenda.

Sep 23, 2026

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5 min read

Bessent and He Lifeng Spent Sunday at JP Morgan. Rare Earths Made the Agenda.

The Busan truce expires November 10. Washington says China's supply has fallen short on the ground. Tomorrow's summit is a deadline dressed as diplomacy

The Pentagon and Beijing on the Same Cap Table

Sep 22, 2026

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5 min read

The Pentagon and Beijing on the Same Cap Table

If China Rare Earth Group buys Shenghe, Beijing gets an indirect stake in Mountain Pass — the very mine the Defense Department paid $400 million to secure.

One Western Producer Can Ship Heavy Rare Earths. Lifton Names the Rest as Unproven

Sep 21, 2026

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5 min read

One Western Producer Can Ship Heavy Rare Earths. Lifton Names the Rest as Unproven

A two-kilogram lab batch and a working refinery are both called production. Lifton's questions — what was made, how much, what grade, did a buyer take it, did they return — tell them apart

The 78-Year-Old French Factory That Quietly Started Separating Dysprosium, Terbium This Month

Sep 18, 2026

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5 min read

The 78-Year-Old French Factory That Quietly Started Separating Dysprosium, Terbium This Month

OneIM's $11.8 billion fund is circling a partnership. China's export control pause expires November 10. The alternatives are no longer hypothetical.

Honda Bets on a Magnet That Doesn't Need Rare Earths

Sep 17, 2026

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5 min read

Honda Bets on a Magnet That Doesn't Need Rare Earths

Iron and nitrogen, no neodymium required — the question is whether Niron Magnetics can match 44 years of NdFeB dominance before the supply chain forces the issue.

107 Days, Three Deadlines — and China Still Makes 93% of the World's Rare Earth Magnets

Sep 16, 2026

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5 min read

107 Days, Three Deadlines — and China Still Makes 93% of the World's Rare Earth Magnets

The DFARS ban on Chinese magnets in U.S. weapons systems is law — no summit can touch it. The November 10 export-control expiry is a negotiation. Only one of those has a back door.

From an Old Laptop to a 144,000-Square-Foot Rare Earth Plant

Sep 15, 2026

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5 min read

From an Old Laptop to a 144,000-Square-Foot Rare Earth Plant

Cyclic Materials opened its first U.S. commercial-scale rare earth magnet recycling plant in Mesa, with capacity for 25,000 tonnes a year and more than 7,000 tonnes of feedstock already delivered.

$2.9 Billion Committed, and the Middle of America's Magnet Supply Chain Is Still Missing

Sep 14, 2026

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5 min read

$2.9 Billion Committed, and the Middle of America's Magnet Supply Chain Is Still Missing

Jack Lifton's argument: a financing closes in a day while building process knowledge takes years — and the IEA's own data shows planned magnet production covers only one-third of expected mined supply by 2035.

Tesla Built a Rare-Earth-Free Motor. Neodymium Shrugged.

Sep 11, 2026

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6 min read

Tesla Built a Rare-Earth-Free Motor. Neodymium Shrugged.

Only 45 Cybercabs are registered in Texas — proving a motor works in a robotaxi is a different problem from pulling rare earths out of three million cars a year.

Sep 10, 2026

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5 min read

The Pause Expires in Sixty-One Days

Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on September 24. What the two leaders settle — or don't — will determine whether November 10 is a turning point or a reckoning delayed.

Japan Cut Chinese Dysprosium Imports 82% This Year. Its Factories Kept Running.

Sep 9, 2026

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5 min read

Japan Cut Chinese Dysprosium Imports 82% This Year. Its Factories Kept Running.

Sixteen years of stockpiling, funded offtake deals, and magnet recycling — the Tokyo conference opening today is a masterclass in building supply security backward, from finished magnet to raw ore.

The Pentagon Needs Half of Every Non-Chinese Magnet by 2030

Sep 8, 2026

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5 min read

The Pentagon Needs Half of Every Non-Chinese Magnet by 2030

A Sprott report maps the arithmetic: a $110-per-kilogram Pentagon price floor at MP Materials, nearly $1 billion in U.S. government commitments, and still a race against thirty years of Chinese industrial policy.

No Order Was Given. Chinese Rare Earth Suppliers Stopped Shipping to the U.S. Anyway

Sep 7, 2026

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4 min read

No Order Was Given. Chinese Rare Earth Suppliers Stopped Shipping to the U.S. Anyway

Washington is racing to build supply chains one mine at a time. Beijing is building a network — railways, ports, refineries, and alliances, all connected.

Xi Builds a Railway, Builds an Alliance, and Waits for Trump

Sep 4, 2026

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5 min read

Xi Builds a Railway, Builds an Alliance, and Waits for Trump

Washington is racing to build supply chains one mine at a time. Beijing is building a network — railways, ports, refineries, and alliances, all connected.

China's New Plan: Own the Finish Line, Not Just the Mine

Sep 3, 2026

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5 min read

China's New Plan: Own the Finish Line, Not Just the Mine

MIIT's 2026–2030 blueprint shifts Beijing's declared goal from 'scale leadership' to 'comprehensive leadership' — covering patents, global standards, and finished products, not just tonnes mined.

Greenland's First Rare Earth Mine: a $35 Million Deal and a 170-Year Echo

Sep 2, 2026

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5 min read

Greenland's First Rare Earth Mine: a $35 Million Deal and a 170-Year Echo

The same island that fed the world's aluminum industry from a single hillside is now positioned to supply 34% of all NdPr refined outside China.

Lynas Earned A$222 Million. Its Dysprosium Plant Came in 63% Over Budget Because the Machines Only Exist in China

Sep 1, 2026

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5 min read

Lynas Earned A$222 Million. Its Dysprosium Plant Came in 63% Over Budget Because the Machines Only Exist in China

Record revenue, floor-price deals from Washington and Tokyo, A$1.2B in cash — and none of it solves the equipment problem at the core of the overrun.

A Fishing Boat in 2010 Sent Terbium up 900%. Japan Just Cleared an American Supplier Instead.

Aug 31, 2026

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6 min read

A Fishing Boat in 2010 Sent Terbium up 900%. Japan Just Cleared an American Supplier Instead.

Energy Fuels' terbium oxide passed every test set by one of the world's largest magnet makers outside China. The approval is final. The material can go straight to the production line.

Brazil's Only Rare Earth Mine Comes to a Vote Today

Aug 28, 2026

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4 min read

Brazil's Only Rare Earth Mine Comes to a Vote Today

At $2.8 billion, Serra Verde is the largest single piece of America's critical minerals push — and the only ionic clay mine outside Asia producing all four magnet rare earths at commercial scale.

Tomorrow's Vote: U.S.A. Rare Earth Shareholders Weigh a $2.8 Billion Wager on Brazilian Mine-to-Magnet Supply

Aug 27, 2026

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6 min read

Tomorrow's Vote: U.S.A. Rare Earth Shareholders Weigh a $2.8 Billion Wager on Brazilian Mine-to-Magnet Supply

Serra Verde's Pela Ema mine is the only scaled producer outside Asia mining all four magnet rare earths. The combined entity targets 6,400 tonnes of oxide capacity by end-2027.

A 75-Year-Old Korean War Law Takes Effect Tomorrow

Aug 26, 2026

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5 min read

A 75-Year-Old Korean War Law Takes Effect Tomorrow

Starting August 27, every U.S. black mass seller must route 100% of monthly sales to domestic buyers. The refining plants aren't ready for what they're about to receive.

America Has the Ore. It Doesn't Have the Engineers

Aug 25, 2026

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5 min read

America Has the Ore. It Doesn't Have the Engineers

Jack Lifton compares 2026 to Detroit in 1940 — and explains precisely where that parallel breaks down

DOE's $162 Million Goes to Tailings, Slag Heaps, and Factory Waste — Not New Mines

Aug 24, 2026

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5 min read

DOE's $162 Million Goes to Tailings, Slag Heaps, and Factory Waste — Not New Mines

Nine projects — from an MIT spinout to Alcoa — are trying to prove that above-ground waste can replace below-ground exploration

Halleck Creek Holds 2.63 Billion Tonnes of Rare Earth Ore. The Oxide-to-Metal Step Stays in China

Aug 21, 2026

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5 min read

Halleck Creek Holds 2.63 Billion Tonnes of Rare Earth Ore. The Oxide-to-Metal Step Stays in China

American Rare Earths and Novex signed an MoU this week to bring that conversion step home — but no commercial facility yet exists, and a $456 million EXIM letter of interest is not a kilogram of metal.

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Element 17

The Busan Truce Expires in 47 Days. Xi Is at the White House Today.

Bessent and He Lifeng Spent Sunday at JP Morgan. Rare Earths Made the Agenda.

The Pentagon and Beijing on the Same Cap Table

One Western Producer Can Ship Heavy Rare Earths. Lifton Names the Rest as Unproven

The 78-Year-Old French Factory That Quietly Started Separating Dysprosium, Terbium This Month

Honda Bets on a Magnet That Doesn't Need Rare Earths

107 Days, Three Deadlines — and China Still Makes 93% of the World's Rare Earth Magnets

From an Old Laptop to a 144,000-Square-Foot Rare Earth Plant

$2.9 Billion Committed, and the Middle of America's Magnet Supply Chain Is Still Missing

Tesla Built a Rare-Earth-Free Motor. Neodymium Shrugged.

The Pause Expires in Sixty-One Days

Japan Cut Chinese Dysprosium Imports 82% This Year. Its Factories Kept Running.

The Pentagon Needs Half of Every Non-Chinese Magnet by 2030

No Order Was Given. Chinese Rare Earth Suppliers Stopped Shipping to the U.S. Anyway

Xi Builds a Railway, Builds an Alliance, and Waits for Trump

China's New Plan: Own the Finish Line, Not Just the Mine

Greenland's First Rare Earth Mine: a $35 Million Deal and a 170-Year Echo

Lynas Earned A$222 Million. Its Dysprosium Plant Came in 63% Over Budget Because the Machines Only Exist in China

A Fishing Boat in 2010 Sent Terbium up 900%. Japan Just Cleared an American Supplier Instead.

Brazil's Only Rare Earth Mine Comes to a Vote Today

Tomorrow's Vote: U.S.A. Rare Earth Shareholders Weigh a $2.8 Billion Wager on Brazilian Mine-to-Magnet Supply

A 75-Year-Old Korean War Law Takes Effect Tomorrow

America Has the Ore. It Doesn't Have the Engineers

DOE's $162 Million Goes to Tailings, Slag Heaps, and Factory Waste — Not New Mines

Halleck Creek Holds 2.63 Billion Tonnes of Rare Earth Ore. The Oxide-to-Metal Step Stays in China

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