Rare-earth processing, not Western ore supply, is the key bottleneck

Solcoa says rare-earth mining and projects already exist across the West, including in Australia and California, but processing is the central bottleneck. The company says it takes refined virgin ore from mines and converts it into metals, with almost all production now based on primary material because recycled feedstock is difficult to source at the required scale.

Solcoa attributed the shift of production to China to environmental problems, technology transfer and later economic competition. It cited past environmental scandals and issues around the US Molycorp project, and separately noted that thorium in rare-earth deposits can leach into the ground. It said Chinese labor costs are 10 times lower and power costs are a third of Western costs.

Solcoa argued that Western producers cannot compete by copying the same technology and cost structure, and that defense is only one part of the market. It is scaling its first processing chemistry in Nevada and plans to develop more effective technology to lower costs, compete in the free market and avoid relying indefinitely on subsidies.