African mines in Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, and South Africa are projected to supply nearly 10% of the world’s rare earth elements by 2029, up from zero today. This significant increase will introduce new players into a market currently dominated by China, which mines 70% of the world’s rare earth elements and refines almost all of them. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, eight mines in these four African countries will begin production within five years, with their output contributing 9% to the global supply. While 37% of the mined rare earth elements have been earmarked for Chinese buyers, the remaining 63% could potentially be secured by Western and non-Chinese processing firms. At the moment, European countries lead in the development of processing facilities outside China as they aim to establish supply chains that are independent of the East Asian country.
SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER
