Not sure if there is an updated number, but clearly this has some geopolitical implications if many countries are relying on these to make wind turbines and electric vehicles. How come other rich countries can’t match it?
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Rare earth elements are present in some types of regular normal rock. Some rock has higher concentrations than others, but it’s not like it’s super ultra rare.
The problem is, to get the rare earth elements out of the regular normal rock, you have to separate it out somehow. Usually this is done with a bunch of nasty chemicals. You mine the rock, grind it up, and then pour in tons of different acids and other yucky stuff. Those chemicals dissolve a lot of the rock, and bind with it, and then you drain it off. This leaves you with the rare earth elements that you want.
But now you’ve got all this extra crap. What do you do with all these used up acids and chemicals? Disposal of that sort of thing is very expensive. China just says “screw it” and they dump it out on the ground. In Western countries we have a bunch of laws that we can’t do that, so producing that stuff over here would be way, way more expensive.
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