Australian Strategic Metals in Talks with the Pentagon.
Rare earth deposits are found in many locations worldwide. However, extraction is not economically viable everywhere, and processing capacities outside China remain severely limited. This could soon change in the United States. According to S&P Global, the U.S. Department of Defense is in talks with Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) about building a rare earth alloy factory. The plant would essentially be a replica of a similar facility opened by ASM in South Korea in 2022. At that facility, rare earths are converted from oxide form into metals and, eventually, alloys used in magnet production.
In addition to rare earths, the Department of Defense is also interested in technology metals such as hafnium and niobium, as ASM CEO Rowena Smith explained in an interview with S&P Global. Like rare earths, both of these raw materials are found at the Toongi deposit in eastern Australia, which ASM is developing as the “Dubbo” project. The U.S. Export-Import Bank has offered financial support for this initiative (nous avons rapporté). According to the company, hafnium and niobium will also be among the resources produced at the South Korean plant in the future.
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