Overview
- U.S.-led G7 finance ministers are meeting in Washington to coordinate steps to reduce dependence on Chinese critical raw materials, with Germany’s Lars Klingbeil attending.
- Price guarantees are under discussion to give investors predictable returns for new mines and processing plants and to blunt market manipulation risks.
- The key vulnerability lies in refining capacity rather than ore reserves, with China controlling more than 90% of heavy rare-earth processing.
- Rebuilding processing know-how and facilities outside China will take years and will require financing models that draw in private capital.
- Greenland’s Kringlerne deposit and South American supply routes via Mercosur are cited as opportunities, though non-Chinese refining remains the decisive hurdle.