Element 17

Element 17

Aug 10, 2026

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5 min read

China Squeezed Its Own Magnet Factories

In 2011, Beijing's own magnet makers buckled under prices China had pushed too high — and it just happened again in Zhejiang. We've been tracking the countdown to November 10 since our first issue on this; this is the clearest sign yet of what's at stake if the truce doesn't hold.

The Clay Deposit That Gave China Its Rare Earth Grip Just Found a Rival – in Brazil

Aug 7, 2026

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5 min read

The Clay Deposit That Gave China Its Rare Earth Grip Just Found a Rival – in Brazil

IMC Rare Earths raised $20 million and started trading on NYSE American on July 29. Its Brazilian deposit sits on the same kind of clay that built China's dysprosium and terbium monopoly in the first place.

Malaysia Weighs Easing Its Rare Earth Export Ban, With Conditions Attached

Aug 5, 2026

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5 min read

Malaysia Weighs Easing Its Rare Earth Export Ban, With Conditions Attached

US, Australia, France, and India are all asking. Malaysia is willing to answer — but only for buyers who bring technology transfer and investment, not just cash.

Ninety-Eight Days: the Rare Earth Deadline Washington Can't Afford to Miss

Aug 4, 2026

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5 min read

Ninety-Eight Days: the Rare Earth Deadline Washington Can't Afford to Miss

Two executive orders in ten days — one ends waivers for defense firms buying Chinese minerals, the other locks down the scrap that was quietly leaving the country.

Trump Invokes the Defense Production Act to Stop Critical Mineral Scrap From Leaving the Country

Aug 3, 2026

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6 min read

Trump Invokes the Defense Production Act to Stop Critical Mineral Scrap From Leaving the Country

Two executive orders in ten days — one ends waivers for defense firms buying Chinese minerals, the other locks down the scrap that was quietly leaving the country.

A Kilogram of Dysprosium: $262 Inside China, $2,250 Outside It

Jul 31, 2026

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6 min read

A Kilogram of Dysprosium: $262 Inside China, $2,250 Outside It

Same metal, same purity, eightfold price gap. The Pentagon just put $1.225 billion behind two companies racing to close it – but neither has broken ground yet

Japan Pulls Rare Earth Mud From 6,000 Meters — and Finds 54% Medium and Heavy Elements

Jul 29, 2026

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4 min read

Japan Pulls Rare Earth Mud From 6,000 Meters — and Finds 54% Medium and Heavy Elements

Medium and heavy rare earths – the ones China guards most tightly – made up 54% of what Japan just pulled off the ocean floor. The catch: extraction could cost up to 20 times more than buying from China.

The Same Yttrium Oxide Costs 149 Times More in Europe Than in China

Jul 27, 2026

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6 min read

The Same Yttrium Oxide Costs 149 Times More in Europe Than in China

Same oxide, same purity grade. Inside China it's $7.88 a kilogram. In Europe, $1,175. That gap is what export controls look like when they work.

Sprott Makes the Case: AI Has Become the Third Driver of Rare Earth Demand

Jul 24, 2026

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5 min read

Sprott Makes the Case: AI Has Become the Third Driver of Rare Earth Demand

The five biggest hyperscalers committed $400 billion to data centers in 2025. Every one of them needs rare earth magnets to run – and China makes 94% of the world's supply

94% of Permanent Magnets Come From One Country. Every New Data Center Tightens That Grip

Jul 22, 2026

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5 min read

94% of Permanent Magnets Come From One Country. Every New Data Center Tightens That Grip

The fans cooling hyperscale servers run on NdFeB magnets — the same supply chain serving EV motors and missile guidance. Sprott's Schoffstall laid out why $400 billion in annual AI capex now belongs in any rare earth demand thesis

DOE Awards $134M for Rare Earth Projects — While the U.S. Counts Fewer Than 100 Trained Refiners

Jul 20, 2026

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5 min read

DOE Awards $134M for Rare Earth Projects — While the U.S. Counts Fewer Than 100 Trained Refiners

Jack Lifton, 86, is one of the few Americans who has refined rare earths by hand. Bloomberg argues the talent shortage — not capital or geology — is the West's deepest vulnerability.

U.S.A. Rare Earth Pulled Dysprosium From Factory Scrap – and Called It a Closed Loop

Jul 17, 2026

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4 min read

U.S.A. Rare Earth Pulled Dysprosium From Factory Scrap – and Called It a Closed Loop

USA Rare Earth just joined a group you can count on one hand – Western companies that can separate dysprosium at commercial scale. This time the source wasn't a mine. It was scrap from their own factory

China Northern cut its rare earth concentrate price for the first time in seven quarters. The drop was 0.62%

Jul 15, 2026

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5 min read

China Northern cut its rare earth concentrate price for the first time in seven quarters. The drop was 0.62%

Heavy rare earths are moving opposite to the benchmark concentrate index. The rally is shifting form, not ending.

Lynas Is Putting a Magnet Factory Next to Its Refinery in Malaysia. China Built Its Dominance the Same Way

Jul 13, 2026

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5 min read

Lynas Is Putting a Magnet Factory Next to Its Refinery in Malaysia. China Built Its Dominance the Same Way

The $35 million Gebeng project would complete a mine-to-magnet chain – 3,000 tons of NdFeB per year – on a single Malaysian site. First production is expected in late 2027, with heavy rare earth separation added separately

China named the two American companies it wants out of rare earths

Jul 10, 2026

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5 min read

China named the two American companies it wants out of rare earths

MP Materials and USA Rare Earth have received hundreds of millions in federal backing. Beijing just put both on its export control blacklist — and they're already suing each other.

Six months into China's rare earth ban, Japan still can't replace what it lost

Jul 8, 2026

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5 min read

Six months into China's rare earth ban, Japan still can't replace what it lost

Toyota and Hitachi survived the 2010 cutoff in two months. Japan's own consultants now say the pain from this one won't peak for months yet.

The Army Just Turned Five Military Bases Into Rare Earth Factories

Jul 6, 2026

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5 min read

The Army Just Turned Five Military Bases Into Rare Earth Factories

Five installations. Four companies. No taxpayer dollars. The Army just did something it's never done — and a January 2027 federal deadline is the reason why.

America's Only Defense Samarium Supply Is a French Stockpile With Two Years Left

Jul 3, 2026

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4 min read

America's Only Defense Samarium Supply Is a French Stockpile With Two Years Left

The US defense industry pulled its samarium from a defunct French plant. The DFARS ban hits in six months. After that, the only American maker of these magnets has nothing to fall back on.

China Detained Two Japanese Nationals Over Rare Earth Exports

Jul 1, 2026

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5 min read

China Detained Two Japanese Nationals Over Rare Earth Exports

Two detentions in Dalian. The same country that cut off exports in 2010 is now jailing people over them — and this time there's no expiration date.

Pentagon puts rare earth plants on Army bases

Jun 29, 2026

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4 min read

Pentagon puts rare earth plants on Army bases

The Army is building rare earth plants on military bases before China’s export-control pause expires.

China owns mine-to-magnet. One Utah company just bet $1.9 billion it can build the same.

Jun 26, 2026

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5 min read

China owns mine-to-magnet. One Utah company just bet $1.9 billion it can build the same.

Terbium trades at $1,406/kg outside China against $970 inside — a $436 spread that measures exactly how squeezed non-Chinese buyers are right now.

China Blacklisted the Two Companies America Built to Escape Its Supply Chain

Jun 24, 2026

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4 min read

China Blacklisted the Two Companies America Built to Escape Its Supply Chain

In 2010 Beijing turned off rare earth shipments to Japan over a fishing boat. This week it aimed the same weapon at the Pentagon-backed firms built to make that impossible.

The Pentagon Bans Chinese Magnets in January. Congress Just Introduced Its Answer.

Jun 22, 2026

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4 min read

The Pentagon Bans Chinese Magnets in January. Congress Just Introduced Its Answer.

A bipartisan bill covers every link — oxide, separation, finished magnets, rare-earth-free alternatives. $1.7 billion is already committed.

The Pentagon just put $500 million behind the rare earth step that killed Molycorp

Jun 19, 2026

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4 min read

The Pentagon just put $500 million behind the rare earth step that killed Molycorp

Phoenix Tailings will build the Freedom Facility in Massachusetts — taking ore in, shipping pure metals out, and keeping China out of the middle.

China's Rare Earth Truce Expires in 146 Days. The G7 Just Set a 2030 Target. Here's the Gap.

Jun 17, 2026

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5 min read

China's Rare Earth Truce Expires in 146 Days. The G7 Just Set a 2030 Target. Here's the Gap.

G7 leaders agreed at Évian that no single country should supply more than 60% of their critical mineral imports. China currently supplies more than that. The Pentagon just bet $500 million on the midstream solution.

SEE MORE BRIEFINGS

Element 17

China Squeezed Its Own Magnet Factories

The Clay Deposit That Gave China Its Rare Earth Grip Just Found a Rival – in Brazil

Malaysia Weighs Easing Its Rare Earth Export Ban, With Conditions Attached

Ninety-Eight Days: the Rare Earth Deadline Washington Can't Afford to Miss

Trump Invokes the Defense Production Act to Stop Critical Mineral Scrap From Leaving the Country

A Kilogram of Dysprosium: $262 Inside China, $2,250 Outside It

Japan Pulls Rare Earth Mud From 6,000 Meters — and Finds 54% Medium and Heavy Elements

The Same Yttrium Oxide Costs 149 Times More in Europe Than in China

Sprott Makes the Case: AI Has Become the Third Driver of Rare Earth Demand

94% of Permanent Magnets Come From One Country. Every New Data Center Tightens That Grip

DOE Awards $134M for Rare Earth Projects — While the U.S. Counts Fewer Than 100 Trained Refiners

U.S.A. Rare Earth Pulled Dysprosium From Factory Scrap – and Called It a Closed Loop

China Northern cut its rare earth concentrate price for the first time in seven quarters. The drop was 0.62%

Lynas Is Putting a Magnet Factory Next to Its Refinery in Malaysia. China Built Its Dominance the Same Way

China named the two American companies it wants out of rare earths

Six months into China's rare earth ban, Japan still can't replace what it lost

The Army Just Turned Five Military Bases Into Rare Earth Factories

America's Only Defense Samarium Supply Is a French Stockpile With Two Years Left

China Detained Two Japanese Nationals Over Rare Earth Exports

Pentagon puts rare earth plants on Army bases

China owns mine-to-magnet. One Utah company just bet $1.9 billion it can build the same.

China Blacklisted the Two Companies America Built to Escape Its Supply Chain

The Pentagon Bans Chinese Magnets in January. Congress Just Introduced Its Answer.

The Pentagon just put $500 million behind the rare earth step that killed Molycorp

China's Rare Earth Truce Expires in 146 Days. The G7 Just Set a 2030 Target. Here's the Gap.

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