China produced over 80% of the world's supply by the end of the year. Beijing was able to achieve this by pouring resources into the study and mining of rare-earth elements for decades, building up six big state-owned firms and relaxing environmental regulations. A sudden rush to increase rare-earth exports in the 1990s bankrupted international competitors. Beijing wants to further develop rare-earth industries under its Made in China plan.
In 2010 the country stopped all shipments of resources to Japan due to a maritime dispute. China could do the same thing to the US, according to state media.
The US and other western nations see the monopoly as a weakness. They have spent billions of dollars to get better at finding, mining, and processing minerals.
Appia, a Canadian mining company, said it had found new resources in the province. USA Rare Earth opened a facility in Oklahoma.
After the American military signed an agreement with an Australian mining firm to build a rare-earths processing plant in Texas, Dragonbridge followed suit.
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