SEOUL: South Korea’s exports grew more than expected in May at the strongest annual rate in more than four decades, as chip sales hit a record on a global boom in AI investment, bolstering optimism about the trade-reliant economy and its world-beating stock market rally.
Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for global trade, rose 53.2% from a year earlier to a record high of $87.75 billion, preliminary trade data showed on Monday, exceeding the median 48.4% increase forecast in a Reuters poll.
It was the 12th consecutive month of exports growing on a year-on-year basis and the biggest percentage rise since January 1984, bringing a record monthly trade surplus for the country.
“It is truly an unprecedented pace, raising market expectations again and again and exceeding them again and again,” said Stephen Lee, an economist at Meritz Securities in Seoul.
When the world talks about rare earths, the conversation usually centers on mines, supply chains, and geopolitics. Governments in Washington, Brussels, Canberra, and Tokyo are investing billions to reduce dependence on China for these critical minerals, which are essential for electric vehicles, wind turbines, advanced electronics, and military systems.
But while Western policymakers focus on extracting more rare earths from the ground, China has spent decades investing in something much harder to replicate: people.
In the northern Chinese city of Baotou, often called the country’s rare earth capital, a sophisticated ecosystem of universities, research institutes, laboratories, and industrial facilities has created a steady pipeline of highly specialized talent. This workforce may be China’s most durable advantage in the global competition for critical minerals.
Building a Rare Earth Talent Factory
Each year, hundreds of students enroll in specialized rare earth programs at institutions such as the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology. Unlike traditional mining degrees found elsewhere in the world, these programs focus specifically on the science, engineering, and processing of rare earth elements.
Graduates can move directly into nearby refining facilities, magnet manufacturing plants, or advanced research institutes. In Baotou, the distance between classroom, laboratory, and factory can be measured in kilometers rather than continents.
This tight integration between education and industry has produced a workforce capable of contributing immediately upon graduation. Industry veterans who have worked in both China and the West often note that Chinese graduates arrive with practical knowledge tailored to rare earth production, while workers elsewhere may require years of additional training.
Why Rare Earths Are So Difficult
The challenge isn’t finding rare earths. These elements are relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust.
The real difficulty lies in processing them.
Rare earth refining involves separating 17 chemically similar elements, a complex and costly process requiring advanced expertise in chemistry, metallurgy, and engineering. Producing materials such as neodymium and praseodymium—critical ingredients in high-performance magnets—requires intricate sequences of chemical treatments and separations.
Success depends not only on equipment and capital but also on decades of accumulated technical knowledge.
That expertise has become one of China’s most valuable strategic assets.
A Nationwide Research Network
China’s rare earth dominance is supported by an extensive research infrastructure.
The country hosts more than 40 dedicated rare earth laboratories and research institutes, many located near major mining regions. Universities, state-owned enterprises, and government-funded research centers collaborate closely, accelerating the transfer of new discoveries from laboratory experiments to industrial-scale production.
This model allows innovations to move rapidly through the development pipeline. Researchers develop new processing technologies, which can then be adopted by state-backed producers and scaled up for commercial use.
The result is a level of coordination that few countries have been able to match.
The West’s Lost Expertise
For much of the twentieth century, the United States and Europe led the world in rare earth processing.
That leadership gradually disappeared as environmental concerns, lower costs overseas, and shifting industrial priorities pushed much of the industry to China. As refining capacity moved abroad, educational programs and specialized expertise followed.
Today, relatively few Western universities offer dedicated rare earth programs. While institutions such as Ames National Laboratory in Iowa maintain strong research capabilities, the broader educational ecosystem remains limited compared with China’s.
The challenge is not simply building new mines or processing facilities. It is rebuilding a generation of scientists, engineers, and technicians with highly specialized skills.
That process can take decades.
The Geopolitical Stakes
Rare earths sit at the intersection of economic competitiveness and national security.
Advanced fighter aircraft, missile guidance systems, submarines, radar equipment, electric vehicles, and renewable energy technologies all depend on materials refined using rare earth processing expertise.
As tensions between China and the United States continue, Beijing’s control over more than 90% of global rare earth processing and magnet production gives it significant leverage in global supply chains.
Recent export restrictions and tighter controls on technology transfer suggest that China increasingly views rare earth expertise as a strategic resource that must be protected, much like advanced semiconductor technologies.
For policymakers in the West, this raises a difficult question: Can billions of dollars in investment recreate a talent ecosystem that China has spent decades building?
The Road Ahead
The race for rare earth independence is often portrayed as a battle over mines and factories. In reality, it is equally a competition for knowledge.
China’s dominance did not emerge overnight. It was built through long-term investment in education, research, industrial policy, and workforce development. Mines can be developed relatively quickly, and factories can be constructed within a few years. Building generations of specialists, however, requires patience and sustained commitment.
As countries seek to diversify supply chains and secure access to critical minerals, they may discover that the most valuable rare earth resource is not buried underground at all.
It is the expertise required to turn those minerals into the technologies that power the modern world.
Bridge Green Launches Critical Mineral Recovery Plant in Chennai to Advance Battery Circularity
In a significant step toward building a circular battery economy, US-based startup Bridge Green Upcycle has inaugurated a state-of-the-art critical mineral recovery facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Strengthening India’s Battery Recycling Ecosystem
Located in Gummidipoondi near Chennai, the newly commissioned plant is designed to process end-of-life lithium-ion batteries as well as battery manufacturing scrap. With an annual processing capacity of 7,200 tonnes, the facility represents one of the most advanced battery recycling operations in the region.
The plant will recover a range of critical minerals, including:
Lithium
Cobalt
Nickel
Manganese
Copper
Graphite
These materials play a vital role in battery manufacturing and are essential for supporting the growing electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage industries.
Recognition Under Government Incentive Scheme
The facility has been selected under the Government of India’s Critical Mineral Recycling Incentive Scheme, highlighting its strategic importance in strengthening domestic supply chains for critical raw materials. Notably, it is the only facility in Tamil Nadu included in the first cohort of projects approved under the initiative.
Major Investment Plans Ahead
Bridge Green’s Founder and CEO announced that the company plans to invest between ₹500 crore and ₹1,000 crore over the next five years. The current plant is expected to ramp up operations and reach full processing capacity by the end of this year.
This investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to developing a sustainable and localized critical minerals ecosystem in India.
Expanding into Refined Battery Materials
Beyond mineral recovery, Bridge Green has outlined ambitious expansion plans. The next phase of development will focus on producing refined battery-grade materials, including:
Lithium carbonate
Nickel sulfate
Manganese sulfate
Cobalt sulfate
The company is targeting commissioning of these facilities by the end of 2028. Additionally, plans are underway to establish a second-life battery plant, further extending the lifecycle of battery assets and reducing waste.
Supporting the Circular Economy
As demand for batteries continues to grow worldwide, recycling and material recovery will play an increasingly important role in reducing dependence on virgin mining and improving resource security. Facilities such as Bridge Green’s Chennai plant demonstrate how innovative recycling technologies can help create a more sustainable, resilient, and circular battery value chain.
The launch marks an important milestone not only for Bridge Green but also for India’s emerging critical minerals and battery recycling sector, positioning the country as a key player in the global energy transition.
A key differentiator for Bridge Green is its proprietary technology platform focused on both battery life extension and critical mineral extraction. By combining advanced recycling processes with second-life battery solutions, the company aims to maximize resource utilization while reducing environmental impact.
The company’s strategy extends beyond recycling alone. Bridge Green plans to serve both domestic and international markets, supplying recovered minerals and battery materials to industries including battery manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, defence, and aerospace.
In addition to mineral recovery, the company intends to provide second-life battery systems for data centres and industrial users. These systems can repurpose batteries that are no longer suitable for electric vehicles but still retain sufficient capacity for stationary energy storage applications, further supporting circular economy objectives.
Capitalizing on Growing Demand
According to Founder and CEO demand for battery-grade materials already exists in India and is expected to grow significantly as the country’s cell manufacturing ecosystem matures. As domestic battery production expands under various government initiatives, the need for locally sourced critical minerals and refined battery salts will become increasingly important.
Bridge Green is also positioning itself to tap into international opportunities. Potential export markets include the United States, Southeast Asia, and Europe—regions that are rapidly strengthening their battery supply chains and seeking reliable sources of critical minerals.
The recently established US–India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Framework presents an additional opportunity for the company. As a US–India enterprise, Bridge Green is uniquely positioned to support cross-border collaboration in securing sustainable supplies of critical materials required for the global energy transition.
Pip: Welcome to a show about the rocks that run the world — or at least the ones that run the drones, the defense contracts, and the supply chains holding everything together.
Mara: Today we're looking at work from Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng, and it lands squarely in rare earth territory — specifically who controls the magnets inside American military drones, and what one company is doing about it.
Pip: Let's start with the Pentagon's drone ambitions and the supply chain problem underneath them.
The Pentagon's Drone Ambitions vs. China's Magnet Grip
Mara: The setup here is stark: the United States military wants a lot of drones, fast, and almost every one of them depends on a component it doesn't control.
Pip: The post puts the numbers plainly: "The Pentagon recently placed the largest drone order in American history — 30,000 one-way attack drones, with plans to scale past 300,000 by early 2028."
Mara: And the constraint hiding inside that ambition is the rare earth magnet. According to Goldman Sachs figures cited in the post, roughly 98 percent of the world's magnets are manufactured in China. So the upshot is: you can order all the drones you want, but if the magnets aren't there, the drones aren't either.
Pip: Three hundred thousand drones is a serious procurement target. The magnet math is the part that doesn't scale with good intentions.
Mara: That's where REalloys enters the picture. The post describes the company as holding the only fully non-Chinese mine-to-magnet heavy rare earth supply chain in North America — covering processed metals, finished alloys, and the magnet-ready inputs that defense contractors actually need.
Pip: So the chain runs from the ground to the finished input, entirely outside China. That's the gap REalloys is positioned to fill, and it's a gap the Pentagon's own order just made very visible.
Mara: The original reporting is sourced to The Globe and Mail, and the post frames REalloys not as a speculative play but as a company that has spent years building toward exactly this moment in defense procurement.
Pip: The timing is either very good planning or very good luck — probably some of both.
Mara: Rare earth supply chains don't move fast, but defense procurement deadlines do. That tension is what makes this story worth watching.
Pip: The magnets are small. The stakes are not. More next time.
Pip: Welcome to the blog where the earth gives up its metals, its minerals, and apparently its trade policy opinions — this is A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info.
Mara: Today’s episode comes from Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng, and it covers a significant shift in how China and Africa are structuring their trade relationship — and what that might mean for African industry.
Pip: Let’s start with the zero-tariff expansion and what it actually unlocks for African exporters.
China Opens Its Market to All of Africa
Pip: The core question here is whether a tariff policy can do more than just move goods — whether it can actually reshape what African economies produce and how they fit into global supply chains.
Mara: The post frames the stakes clearly from the outset: “China has expanded its zero-tariff policy to include all 53 African nations with which it maintains diplomatic relations, opening new opportunities for African exports and industrial development at a time when global trade is increasingly affected by protectionist policies.”
Pip: So the timing is the thing. While other major economies are pulling up the drawbridge, this policy is explicitly moving the other direction — and that contrast is the whole story.
Mara: The numbers back that up. Bilateral trade between China and Africa hit a record 348 billion US dollars in 2025. Chinese imports from Africa reached 123 billion, with year-on-year growth of 5.4 percent. The policy took effect immediately — a shipment of 24 tonnes of South African apples was the first to clear customs under the new arrangement, in Shenzhen.
Pip: Twenty-four tonnes of apples as the symbolic opening act of a continental trade realignment. History is rarely glamorous.
Mara: Previously, tariff-free access applied to 33 of Africa’s least-developed countries. The expansion adds 20 more economies — Kenya, Egypt, and Nigeria among them — covering products like Kenyan coffee and avocados, cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, and South African citrus and wine, which had faced tariffs of 8 to 30 percent.
Mara: Scholars from Tsinghua University and the University of International Business and Economics argue the real prize is what follows: tariff-free access could pull manufacturing and processing investment into Africa, helping the continent move beyond raw material exports toward finished goods.
Pip: That shift — from digging it up to actually processing it — is exactly the kind of industrial development this blog exists to track.
Mara: The arrangement runs for an initial two-year period while longer-term agreements are developed under the China-Africa Economic Partnership for Shared Development framework. African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called the move timely and described it as a gesture of solidarity.
Pip: Trade policy as solidarity — a framing worth sitting with, whatever you make of it.
Pip: Raw materials leaving a continent, finished goods coming back — that gap is where industrialization either happens or doesn’t.
Mara: Whether the investment follows the tariff relief is the question the next few years will answer. We’ll be watching.
China has expanded its zero-tariff policy to include all 53 African nations with which it maintains diplomatic relations, opening new opportunities for African exports and industrial development at a time when global trade is increasingly affected by protectionist policies.
The policy took effect immediately, with a shipment of 24 tonnes of South African apples becoming the first African products to enter China under the expanded tariff-free arrangement after clearing customs in Shenzhen.
Previously, China had already eliminated tariffs on all product categories from 33 of Africa’s least-developed countries starting December 2024. The latest expansion extends similar benefits to 20 additional African economies, including Kenya, Egypt, and Nigeria. Under the arrangement, these countries will enjoy preferential zero-tariff access for an initial two-year period while China works toward establishing long-term trade agreements through the China-Africa Economic Partnership for Shared Development framework.
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, the measure will improve the competitiveness of African exports such as cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, Kenyan coffee and avocados, and South African citrus fruits and wine, which previously faced tariffs ranging from 8% to 30%. The ministry also believes the initiative will encourage greater investment in Africa by attracting capital, technology, equipment, and management expertise to support local processing industries. This, in turn, is expected to create a more balanced and sustainable trade relationship between China and Africa.
The decision has been widely welcomed as a strong signal of China’s commitment to economic openness during a period when many countries are adopting more restrictive trade policies. African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf described the move as both timely and beneficial for Africa, noting that the continent continues to face numerous global challenges, including rising protectionism. He expressed appreciation for what he called a gesture of solidarity from China.
China remains Africa’s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade reached a record US$348 billion in 2025, with Chinese imports from Africa totaling US$123 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 5.4%.
Experts believe the impact of the policy will extend beyond trade. Scholars from institutions including Tsinghua University and University of International Business and Economics argue that tariff-free access could encourage multinational companies to establish manufacturing and processing facilities in Africa, supporting industrialization and helping the continent move beyond its traditional role as a supplier of raw materials.
The initiative also aligns with China’s broader economic strategy of expanding international openness and improving trade and investment cooperation through 2030. Analysts suggest that Chinese consumers will benefit as well, gaining access to a wider range of competitively priced African products. Businesses have already begun preparing to increase imports, including Kenyan tea processors that expect significantly lower costs under the new tariff regime.
Overall, the expanded zero-tariff policy is expected to strengthen China-Africa economic ties, boost African exports, attract investment, and support long-term industrial growth across the continent.
Pip: Welcome to the podcast where we dig into mining, mineral processing, and metals — sometimes literally. Today we're following the rare earth supply chain from California to the Arctic, courtesy of Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng.
Mara: That's right — we're looking at why Greenland keeps coming up in rare earth conversations, and what the real obstacles are to building a Western supply chain that actually works.
Pip: Let's start with the Mountain Pass story, and why it matters more than the map suggests.
Why Greenland? The Mountain Pass lesson and what comes next
Mara: The central question here is why Western policymakers keep looking at Greenland when the United States already has a rare earth mine in California — and what that question reveals about the gap between mining and refining.
Pip: The post quotes a researcher named Chrisey to put the technical problem in plain terms: "Two different rare earth elements may be fractions of an angstrom different in diameter — that means it's very difficult to separate using physical means. The processes that are used right now can be 100 steps," with the procedure described as very expensive and environmentally hazardous due to the chemicals used.
Mara: So the upshot is that even if you have the ore in the ground, separating and purifying individual rare earth elements is a genuinely hard chemical problem — not just a permitting or investment problem.
Pip: Mountain Pass is the case study. Molycorp tried to be a one-stop American rare earths solution, and by 2013 revenues were in free fall. The post notes that Molycorp's most profitable assets ended up transferred to Chinese-linked Neo Materials, the mine was purchased out of bankruptcy by a consortium that included a Chinese-owned firm, and Mountain Pass was sending U.S.-mined concentrate to China for processing.
Mara: The dream of domestic end-to-end production collapsed not because the ore ran out, but because the refining technology and economics didn't hold. The post cites Reuters reporting that China controls 87 percent of global rare earths refining capacity, and that Beijing deliberately keeps prices for finished products low to inhibit foreign competition from building their own processing plants.
Pip: It's a neat trap — dig all you want, just send us the concentrate.
Mara: The post lays out a three-step prescription in response: invest in research and development on refining technologies first, build refineries at existing mines with infrastructure before opening new ones, and use tariffs or other tools to take price control away from China while local operations optimize. The reserve numbers matter here too — Greenland has 1.5 million metric tons of rare earth reserves, while the U.S. sits at 1.9 million. Neither country is close to China's 44 million metric tons.
Pip: Which reframes the Greenland question entirely — it's not about the ore, it's about whether Western refining can exist at all before anyone starts a new mine.
Mara: Exactly the argument the post makes. The infrastructure and processing capability have to come before the next frontier dig, or the concentrate just travels east again.
Pip: The economics of refining are where the real supply chain battle is being fought — and that's a thread worth pulling on next.
Mara: The Mountain Pass story keeps repeating because the refining problem keeps being skipped.
Pip: Build the refinery first, then talk about Greenland. That order matters.
Researchers are continually attempting to advance the technology behind solid-state batteries, and China seems to be leading the charge. Following a breakthrough that packs more energy into the same size battery, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences may have developed a powerful new solid-state battery that provides impressive energy density, can be charged ultra-fast, and overcomes common concerns with this battery type. As its name suggests, solid-state batteries leverage solid electrolytes, or materials, to conduct ions between electrodes, versus the liquid or gel polymer materials used in conventional batteries, potentially offering improved performance and safety.
The team reports a solid-state lithium-metal battery with a density of 451.5 watt-hours per kilogram, which is more than double what commercial lithium iron phosphate EV battery cells can achieve. Moreover, it maintained “stable cycling” for 700 cycles with an 81.9 percent capacity retention. In other words, it’s powerful enough to hold a significant charge, can be replenished ultra-fast in three-minute sessions, and maintains its power capacity over many cycles. According to the researchers, they achieved this with a “compatibilizing-solvent plasticization” strategy that introduces a solvent to improve compatibility between the polymer and stable plasticizers.
The researchers basically stabilized and strengthened the electrolytes
The study suggests that “conventional plasticizers” used in PVDF electrolytes — a type of polymer used in advanced batteries — has poor electrochemical instability. Using the “compatibilizing-solvent plasticization” strategy the researchers essentially create a film — a lithium-fluoride-rich interfacial layer — that keeps the plasticizers locked into the polymer network. They use a temporary volatile solvent, acetone, to boost compatibility, which evaporates during the film’s formation. This discovery could lead to more practical designs of lithium-metal batteries that exhibit the high energy density, for more power storage, and fast-charging support demonstrated in the study. That would have huge implications for EV technologies, vastly improving their overall range.
Although research has advanced in recent years — solid-state battery power banks are already here — they still pose quite a few challenges. Dense solid-state batteries are plagued by high-current metallic cracks called dendrites, which cause short circuiting or worse. So while there’s still advancements to be made with solid-state batteries, it’s easy to see that battery technology research is moving at a good pace. China’s new all-iron battery might beat lithium options at a fraction of the cost, while nuclear batteries could change everything we know about portable power, if they come to pass.
The US, Japan, Australia and India have unveiled a $20 billion framework to strengthen critical minerals supplies as Washington continues to seek ways to loosen China’s stronghold.
The four Quad partners said they intend to raise up to $20 billion in public and private sector support to boost critical minerals supply chains that includes mining, processing and recycling by identifying projects in member countries.
“Through the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, Quad partners intend to work together to use economic policy tools and co-ordinated investment to accelerate the development of diversified and fair critical mineral markets. and support the supply of critical minerals that are crucial to our region’s economic growth and security,” the members said in a statement.e
Monday’s announcement followed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India, where he and Quad foreign ministers also announced initiatives to strengthen maritime and transnational security, emerging technology and humanitarian assistance.
Under the critical minerals agreement, the Quad partners said they would support strategic projects through export credit agencies, private capital, development financial institutions, and explore new ways to raise private capital in the critical minerals space.
Critical minerals are used to produce advanced technology, defence systems, electric vehicles and other technologies in the clean energy transition.
Pip: Welcome to the podcast where we track what the earth gives up and what the markets make of it — rare earths, trade deficits, and the occasional geopolitical scramble.
Mara: Today’s episode, shaped by posts from Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng, covers three connected territories: Europe pushing back on its trade imbalance with China, a long-term rare earth supply deal out of Greenland, and the magnet problem sitting inside the Pentagon’s drone ambitions.
Pip: Let’s start with the EU-China trade picture.
EU and China: Rebalancing an Unequal Trade
Mara: The European Union is signaling it wants a different kind of relationship with China — one where the trade flows more evenly and the strategic vulnerabilities get addressed.
Pip: The numbers make the case bluntly. The EU’s trade deficit with China reached approximately 360 billion euros last year, and the post notes that “particular concern has centered on rare earth minerals after China imposed export restrictions last year, exposing Europe’s heavy reliance on Chinese supplies.”
Mara: So the upshot is Europe is not just haggling over tariffs — it’s reckoning with structural dependency. A summit in Brussels on June 18 and 19 is expected to advance those discussions, with a possible visit from China’s commerce minister also on the table.
Pip: Which makes Greenland’s rare earth story land with considerably more weight.
The Tanbreez Deal: Greenland’s 15-Year Commitment
Mara: The Tanbreez project in Greenland is one of the world’s largest known heavy rare earth deposits, and it just got a significant commercial anchor.
Pip: Critical Metals has signed a 15-year binding offtake agreement with REalloys, and the post quotes directly: “REalloys will receive priority rights to concentrate containing higher levels of the critical heavy rare earth elements, dysprosium and terbium, along with a right of first refusal over additional volumes.”
Mara: Those two elements — dysprosium and terbium — are exactly the heavy rare earths that go into the high-performance magnets defense and clean energy applications depend on. The deal formalizes and expands a non-binding agreement from last October, and follows Greenland’s April approval for Critical Metals to raise its ownership stake in the project to 92.5%.
Pip: Fifteen years is a long runway. That’s not a spot purchase — that’s a supply chain being built from the ground up.
Mara: Pricing is linked to international rare earth oxide benchmarks, and deliveries ship from the Tanbreez port in southern Greenland. The post frames this in the context of the U.S. and its allies stepping up efforts to secure critical mineral supplies outside China.
Pip: And REalloys turns up in the drone story too — which is where the magnet dependency gets very concrete.
300,000 Drones and the Magnet Bottleneck
Mara: The Pentagon has placed the largest drone order in American history — 30,000 one-way attack drones, with a target of scaling past 300,000 by early 2028. Every one runs on a rare earth magnet.
Pip: And the post puts the constraint in one number: “roughly 98% of the world’s magnets are manufactured in China.” That is a supply chain risk dressed up as an ambition.
Mara: REalloys is positioned as a direct response to that gap — holding what the post describes as the only fully non-Chinese mine-to-magnet heavy rare earth supply chain in North America, from processed metals through to magnet-ready inputs.
Pip: The Greenland offtake deal and this Pentagon supply problem are clearly two ends of the same chain.
Mara: Whether it’s Brussels negotiating with Beijing, Greenland locking in a 15-year deal, or the Pentagon counting magnets — the throughline is the same scramble to diversify critical mineral supply.
Pip: Next time, we’ll see where that scramble leads. The deposits are finite; the demand is not.
A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info 