Spread thinly, rare earths are essential in a range of hightech products key to combatting climate change Copyright AFP Jim WATSON
The rare earths wars have ramped up significantly. You’d never notice that vital resources are even a thing in the tunnel vision of news coverage. America’s excruciating flatfooted “minerals deal” with Ukraine made the news, but the complexity of this issue goes far beyond political PR.
The current visible state of play is that Australia is seen as an alternative to China’s death grip on the rare earths. Australia does have rare earths, and lot of them, about 8% from a standing start without further major developments. However, the rare earths market isn’t so straightforward. This hyperpoliticized market has a lot of “sensitivities”.
There’s also an actual functional shortage of rare earths for industries as the political bickering trudges on to yet another impasse. They’re very short of materials.
This particular fuss is all largely about making hightech magnets. China has a virtual monopoly on rare earths processing and manufacturing, too. Australia doesn’t have anything remotely like the capacity or the people to do that on that scale.
That doesn’t mean Australia can’t create capacity to scale with an appropriate kick in the economic anatomy. We could even go looking for more rare earths and do some proper, indepth research.
A slight digression – The oldest chestnut in the Australia economy is our refusal to add value to the vast quantities of raw materials we produce. One of the main reasons Australians are so good at swearing is the sheer lack of corporate interest in what we can actually do. “Dig a hole and sell whatever was in it to someone” is the usual modus operandi.
Even in the media, El Muy Grande Cheapo is the usual story. A lot of the work on the hit movie Happy Feet was done in a garage in Melbourne. An attempt at adding value to the mining sector famously led to coated wires. It’d make you weep to see the lack of followthrough on valueadding across the board.
So, are we Aussies suddenly condescending to enter a critical highdemand, highvalue critical global market? Not by a long shot. Conscientious dithering isn’t good enough. There is a much underpublicized stockpile, but that seems to be about all. The rest of the supply chain options are anyone’s guess.
Add a further perspective – Australia isn’t seen as a future competitor to China but as a “reliable alternative source”. Faint praise indeed in a hyperactive market. You can smell the stench of a total lack of aspirations.
This market runs on stagnant rails. It’s where you source and prices that matter, not the blindingly obvious and constant technological seismic shifts.
Thorium alone could be a huge market if thorium reactors take off. The world’s demand for energy is exponentially rising. Nobody seems to be looking at nonelectronic uses, but those are inevitable with the rise of other materials and smarter technologies.
In theory, you could have smart walls, smart windows, etc., simply by using nanoparticle processors using rare earths in new materials. “Electronic paint” is decades old. Rare earths are making renewables more efficient by the day.
There’s no limit. Given the utter senility of the current market arguments, anyone with a brain could compete globally.
Keep an eye on rare earths. There’s a real risk of competence.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this OpEd are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the or its members.
