United States moves to secure critical mineral supply chains

The United States is actively working to reduce its reliance on Chinese supply chains for critical minerals. For two decades, China has leveraged the global free market to build massive refining and magnet capacity, often operating on thin or negative margins to price out international competitors. In response to Beijing tightening export controls on heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium, Washington is shifting its policy to become more directly involved in the sector.

To bolster domestic mineral security, the U.S. is utilizing advanced mapping technologies. The Earth MRI program, launched in 2019, employs tools such as LiDAR aerial surveying to identify mineral resources. While high-quality geophysical data previously covered only 7% of the country, these technological efforts aim to map the remaining three-quarters of the nation to accelerate exploration and reduce the environmental footprint of speculative drilling.