West Australia's Rare Earth Metals to Feed US Department of Defense Refinery in Texas

Written by: Ned K. on 10 November 2024

Above: Lynas’s Mt Weld mine, WA.  Photo: lynasrareearths.com/projects/

High grade Rare Earth minerals mined at Lynas Mt Weld mine in Western Australia are in demand from both US and European corporations and governments. Both the US and European governments are very keen to usurp China's control over the Rare Earth minerals commodity. 

Lynas Rare Earths, a nominally Australian owned corporation, also owns the world's largest single Rare Earths processing plant in Malaysia where the Rare Earth oxides mined at Mt Weld are processed and exported to Asia, Europe and the USA.

The final processed products include minerals vital for electronics, wind turbines, hybrid and electric vehicle and magnets used in high-tech military equipment and defence applications.

Last week, the federal Labor Government Resources Minister Madelaine King officially opened the Lynas owned $800 million Rare Earths cracking and leaching plant in Kalgoorlie.

The end product from this plant is bound for a refinery in Texas financed by the US Government.

This "partnership" started under Trump's first term of office as US President.

The Albanese Labor Government and the CEO of Lynas are banking on the new Trump administration continuing the import of the Rare Earth mineral from the newly established cracking and leaching plant in Kalgoorlie, rather than the Trump administration building its own cracking and leaching plant under Trump's "Make America Great Again" story.

The Rare Earth mineral deposits in Western Australia and other areas of the country are in US and European corporations’ and governments' sights. They want the minerals so they can decrease their dependence on China's Rare Earth minerals.

Rare Earth minerals should be used primarily for development of advanced manufacturing for peaceful purposes for the benefit of Australian people and people of developing countries rather than for use by the US and European powers' military arsenals.

The Australian Government is subservient to US imperialist interests in the latter's competition with China. This subservience is reflected in the destination of Rare Earth minerals to the US Department of Defense refinery in Texas.

Australia's Rare Earth minerals and their processing (the new "gold") should be nationalised and used for peaceful purposes, not for the benefit of the US war machine.

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