Trump's push for Rare Earth Minerals: What They Are and Why He Wants Them

Diario As

Ver Trump's push for Rare Earth Minerals: What They Are and Why He Wants Them - Diario As en Dailymotion

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00:00We're going to stop that ridiculous war.

00:04Very talented guy.

00:06We have very talented people working for us.

00:11So we're looking to do a deal with Ukraine,

00:14where they're going to secure what we're giving them

00:17with their rare earth and other things.

00:30Trump wants rare earths because the American economy

00:34is highly dependent on Chinese sources

00:37and it's an economic and national security risk.

00:40So, reason number one.

00:43Reason number two is that there are not so many

00:46American companies who are able to mine and produce

00:51rare earths within the US. Reason number two.

00:54And reason number three is that, I mean, there is Ukraine

00:57and we have these commodities right there.

01:00And in order to avoid that the Chinese will take over

01:04Ukrainian rare earth commodities and build up potential mines there,

01:09it's an option for the Americans.

01:12And reason number four is to make the Ukrainians pay

01:16for the American military support.

01:19So you see a couple of reasons why Trump wants them.

01:25But again, we have to wait. What does it really mean on the ground?

01:56Rare earth elements are not actually rare.

01:59They've held on to that name since the late 1700s.

02:03They're used in all manner of electronics, technologies

02:08and high performance alloys.

02:10They're often described as the vitamins or the spice of industry

02:15because they have over the past several decades,

02:18they've enabled through advances in material science

02:21our technologies to get smaller and faster and stronger

02:24and more resilient.

02:51Now, because the term rare earth elements refers

03:20to 17 chemically similar elements that are one right next to the other

03:24on the periodic table, that means they're actually very difficult

03:27to break apart, to separate so that you can have a higher concentration

03:33pure form of praseodymium or neodymium, for example,

03:36which are two elements that are used in high powered magnets

03:39that are used in everything from maglev trains to wind turbines to missiles.

03:43So it's really because of the challenges, the heavy energy

03:48and resource and pollution risks that are associated

03:52with refining rare earth elements that production has concentrated

03:56historically in so few places.

04:13Couple of issues.

04:15First of all, our knowledge base on the Ukrainian resources,

04:20rare earths, titanium, manganese and others is not sufficient.

04:25So we need more information about the commodities

04:28which are located in Ukraine first.

04:31Second, a huge problem for the US is that there are not so many

04:36American companies who are able to mine and to process

04:41these rare earth elements because since almost two decades

04:47Chinese companies dominate this sector.

04:50So it's easy to say on a political level, let's get these critical elements

04:55from Ukraine, but on a practical level, it's not so far clear

04:59which companies, Americans, British or German or whatever companies

05:03will be able to do this right now when the war continues.

05:11Because even though the global rare earth supply continues

05:22to be relatively stable with a few exceptions,

05:25rare earth elements because of their strategic significance

05:29do unfortunately tend to feature in broader geopolitical disputes.

05:34And so the elements that are under question with respect

05:39to Ukraine are currently located in areas that are Russia-controlled.

05:46And so gaining or regaining access to those deposits,

05:52not only for the US, for Ukraine and Western allies,

05:56is something that has larger geopolitical significance.

06:09We know so far that Greenland is also very rich,

06:31but still mining hasn't started because the government

06:38is very hesitant about this and sees not only economic potentials

06:43but also risks for their environment there.

06:47But it's a similar discussion like in Ukraine, but without war.

06:52Main question is who will be first to get access and mine

06:57these critical elements, especially rare earths,

07:00also uranium and a couple of other elements.

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