In any case, US & Europe have already invested billions of dollars in diversifying REE processing away from China, which leads due to lax environmental standards, not technical prowess nor geographical assets.
That's not the problem. REE is a family of elements but only some of them are useful for PM magnet production. Having REE mines and processing capacity does not make US & Europe self-sufficient. China has been clamping down hard on illegal REE processing operations that does not conform to environmental regulations. The real reason for the monopoly is the REE ores have the right ratio of elements. The Mountain Pass mine in California doesn't. And you are right that the main concern is providing REE for military equipment. The goal never is to make enough REE for consumer products.
The best way for U.S. to decrease its reliance is recycling, but that's a very expensive process. You would be very surprised to hear that 95% of the REE wastes are not recycled; they are broken down and mixed into asphalt to pave roads. Without a commercially feasible way to deal with waste from electrified vehicles and renewable energy, we are just setting ourselves for another ecological disaster coming in 15 years. It's the plastic recycling scam all over again. I've said this so many times on this forum that I begin to sound like a broken record.
I don't blame you for your lack of knowledge on these issues, because it's mainly a problem with the media that have become too political and care less about proper research (worshipping Elon Musk also doesn't help). Vehicle electrification is such a deep and interesting issue that no amount of forum discussion could encompass.
Anyway, this is not a discussion related to LF-1 so it would be helpful if mods move it somewhere else.
