.png)
Zimbabwe could emerge as one of the world’s top suppliers of rare earth elements as tensions escalate in the ongoing US-China trade war, Mining Zimbabwe reports.
Rudairo Mapuranga
Zimbabwe sits on vast and lucrative deposits of rare earth minerals. Reports suggest that Zimbabwe’s reserves could be second only to China’s, although exploration activities are still ongoing. Rare earth elements are now widely used in automobiles, electronic equipment, and other advanced technologies.
Earlier this year, China Central Television’s military channel reportedly stated that the United States was planning to invoke a 1950s-era law to “militarise” rare earth production in an effort to counter China’s global monopoly on the supply of these critical minerals.
Former US President Donald Trump reportedly signed an executive order declaring a “state of emergency” and authorised the use of the National Defence Production Act to accelerate the development of mineral resources. This law was previously used to speed up the production of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rare earth minerals play a crucial role in military technology. Reports indicate that manufacturing an F-35 fighter jet requires approximately 417 kilograms of rare earths, while a Virginia-class nuclear submarine uses about four tonnes.
It has been reported that 80 per cent of the rare earth minerals used in the US are imported from China. Although the US extracts its own rare earths in California, the materials are typically shipped to China for processing.
Rare earth elements used in batteries and electronics are among the 35 minerals the US government considers vital to national security and economic stability. Of these, 14 are not produced domestically. As the trade war between the US and China deepens, Zimbabwe may become a viable alternative source for some of these critical elements.
Zimbabwe’s position as a potential rare earth supplier gained further traction when China implemented its new Export Control Law this month. This law is expected to significantly impact the global rare earth market.
The legislation stipulates that the Chinese government will control exports of dual-use items—including military products, nuclear materials, technologies, services, rare earths, and other goods linked to national security and international obligations such as non-proliferation.
According to Netease News, the law gives China a mechanism to further limit rare earth exports. Should China decide to curb exports as part of its trade conflict with the US, Zimbabwe, speculated to have the world’s second-largest reserves, stands to benefit.
Currently, according to President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe lacks the technical capacity and resources to extract and process these minerals. However, as global demand surges for electric vehicles and defence technologies, the country is likely to attract significant foreign investment in rare earth mining and processing.
Premier African Minerals, listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, is reportedly prospecting for rare earth elements in Matabeleland North, near the Zambian border.
The 17 rare-earth elements are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y).
This article first appeared in the December 2020 issue of Mining Zimbabwe Magazine
