By Kandy Wong
The United States is scrambling to reduce its dependence on rare earths from China, with the Pentagon splashing out US$400 million on Thursday to become the largest shareholder in American miner MP Materials.
While some say the move will help wean the US off the Chinese supply, a senior American industry executive has warned that a variety of hurdles face US and European mining efforts – from securing the necessary midstream technology to obtaining government permits for what can be a highly…