The U.S. Rare Earths Supply Chain Challenge – Part 1
In an ongoing series on how to solve the U.S. rare earths supply chain challenge, 3 Sr Editors from InvestorIntel and well-known Rare Earths Consultants begin the debate on whether or not a rare earths supply chain can be built in the US.
Participants include Tracy Weslosky, InvestorIntel’s Sr Editor, Publisher and Rare Earths Consultant; Jack Lifton, InvestorIntel’s Sr Editor, Host and Rare Earths Advisor; and Alastair Neill, InvestorIntel’s Sr Editor and Rare Earths Expert.
Jack Lifton starts the debate with: “Yes we can if the money is put forth and all of the skills necessary are there and even deposits are there. If you want to have the total rare earths that you need, for example, rare earth permanent magnets, you will need more than what is produced in the United States. You need to have Canadian content and Australian content. This is the base issue as the anchor of any supply chain is the raw material source. The issue here is money. No one in the United States, private or public, actually believes that the United States could produce rare earth permanent magnets competitively priced than those produced in China. I happen to believe we can.”
In this debate the experts address some of the misinformation and myths in the rare earths industry including the cost of separating rare earths and that the rare earths business is a mining business. To access the complete discussion, click here
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Raj Shah has professional experience working for over a half a dozen years at financial firms such as Merrill Lynch and First Allied Securities Inc., ... <Read more about Raj Shah>
Comments
Tracy.The complexity issue can be clarified by looking at the rare earths business like a farming enterprise where you have to have cattle, pigs, wheat and corn. All separate markets but you have to produce them all because thats the equivalent of an ore body. You are competing with China on all of them. But at the moment you only prioritise beef (like magnets). You still have to produce the pigs, wheat and corn but theres no money in it, only costs. But what does the military really want? They want high protein wagyu beef tartare served as part of a 10 course degustartion menu (the aircraft). So theres alot of other steps between the farm and the degustation menu that have to be performed. Thats the supply chain. But for the economics to work you have to produce speciality salad sandwiches from the wheat, the italian speciality smoked hams from the pork, and some sort of Mexican Taco to account for the corn. Get mt drift? All of these supply chains do not yet exist in the US. Its my upside down pyramid model explained.
You’ll need some Japanese puffer fish sashimi on that menu, probably Sagawa.
Thanks for the insightful discussion.