Efforts to Break China's Rare-Earth Grip Focus on Radioactive Monazite Ore

· Science · China

Global efforts to break China's dominance of rare-earth markets are increasingly focused on monazite, a radioactive ore, as companies and governments across North America, Australasia and Europe try to build alternative supply chains. China's control is anchored in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, home to a 10-square-kilometer artificial lake known as the Weikuang Dam or Baogang Tailings Dam, among the most polluted in the world, which has stored tailings from rare-earth processing for decades. The struggle over rare earths is shaping up as one of the signature geostrategic contests of the early 21st century, with hundreds of mining companies and agencies involved.

Why it matters：Rare earths are critical to magnets, electronics and clean energy, so supply diversification directly affects industrial resilience and national security worldwide.

Key points

  • Monazite, a radioactive ore, is central to efforts to build non-Chinese rare-earth supply chains.
  • China's processing hub in Baotou includes a massively polluted tailings lake.
  • Hundreds of mining companies and agencies across multiple regions are pursuing alternatives.

Sources (original reporting)

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