{"id":3345,"date":"2026-08-03T18:33:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T18:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3345"},"modified":"2026-08-03T18:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T18:33:58","slug":"us-companies-are-stepping-up-to-cut-reliance-on-china-for-critical-minerals-used-in-key-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3345","title":{"rendered":"US companies are stepping up to cut reliance on China for critical minerals used in key weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><strong>Getting your Trinity Audio player ready&#8230;<\/strong><\/div><div><p><strong>By DIDI TANG, JOSH FUNK and RODRIQUE NGOWI<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>EXETER, N.H. (AP) \u2014 Tucked inside a New Hampshire office park, a small refinery zaps mining waste with electricity to tease out\u00a0critical minerals needed\u00a0for key U.S. weapons systems, including missiles used in\u00a0the Iran war.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3339\">Trump overhaul could gut Head Start preschool standards, leaving states to set the rules<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It can play a part in helping America break the\u00a0chokehold China has\u00a0on processing critical minerals, but it will take up to a year and a half to build a new factory as the Trump administration\u00a0pushes to expand domestic production. The company, Phoenix Tailings, recently got a $500 million loan from the Pentagon to ramp up its work, after starting out eight years ago as a backyard lab seeking a cleaner metal-refining method. It\u2019s just the\u00a0latest critical minerals\u00a0company the\u00a0government has backed.<\/p>\n<p>The task that workers carry out in heat-resistant suits and sealed face masks has become more urgent as the Iran conflict\u00a0draws down key munitions\u00a0such as Tomahawk cruise missiles and THAAD interceptors. While the White House is demanding military contractors speed up production, it\u2019s also imposing stricter rules banning them from sourcing critical minerals from China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will be a tall order and a challenge to replenish these stocks and scale up in the timeframe needed to meet defense demand and regulations,\u201d said Anthony Balladon, chief commercial officer and a co-founder of Phoenix Tailings. He said the company is working hard to boost capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Although the U.S. is quickening its pace to build domestic supplies of critical minerals free of control from its most formidable rival, it will likely take years for companies across the industry to build new mines and boost production of the high-powered magnets essential in many high-tech applications. Extracting some of the hard-to-pronounce elements from existing mine waste can help satisfy the growing demand in the meantime, but it will likely take several companies to do that.<\/p>\n<div><ul><div><div><li><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Phoenix Tailings' chief commercial officer and co-founder Anthony Balladon speaks to a reporter.\" class=\"wp-image-3341\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c-1024x682.webp\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c-820x545.webp 820w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bff4d170157d87a475e2c12b2119165c.webp 1535w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>This image taken from video shows Phoenix Tailings\u2019 chief commercial officer and a co-founder Anthony Balladon speaking to a reporter on Friday, July 17, 2026, at the company\u2019s rare earth elements refinery in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo\/Rodrique Ngowi)\n<\/div><\/div><\/li><li><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Phoenix Tailings' workers clad in personal protection equipment as they harvest an alloy\" class=\"wp-image-3342\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de-1024x683.webp\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e2972d5e278909e73a32dbb758d2f6de.webp 1620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>This image taken from video shows Phoenix Tailings\u2019 workers clad in personal protection equipment as they harvest an alloy on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at the company\u2019s rare earth elements refinery in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo\/Rodrique Ngowi)\n<\/div><\/div><\/li><li><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"An office park that is home to Phoenix Tailings' rare earth metal refinery\" class=\"wp-image-3343\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3-1024x683.webp\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f76a71de1d3d1b90eea81abdacf51d3.webp 1620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>This image taken from video shows an office park that is home to Phoenix Tailings\u2019 rare earth metal refinery Friday, July 17, 2026, in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo\/Rodrique Ngowi)\n<\/div><\/div><\/li><li><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A worker uses a drill with a metal brush attachment to polish an ingot.\" class=\"wp-image-3344\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4-1024x683.webp\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dd7de658a3a4e3547fd99eb6a42c59a4.webp 1860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>A worker uses a drill with a metal brush attachment to polish an ingot of rare earth metal known as neodymium-praseodymium oxide, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at the Phoenix Tailings refinery in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo\/Rodrique Ngowi)\n<\/div><\/div><\/li><\/div><\/div><\/ul><div><button>Show Caption<\/button><div><span>1<\/span> of <span>4<\/span><\/div><div>This image taken from video shows Phoenix Tailings\u2019 chief commercial officer and a co-founder Anthony Balladon speaking to a reporter on Friday, July 17, 2026, at the company\u2019s rare earth elements refinery in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo\/Rodrique Ngowi)\n<\/div><span>Expand<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Critical minerals industry has big plans, but it will take time to ramp up<\/h4>\n<p>Phoenix Tailings taps waste from traditional mining as well as recycled magnets and disk drives as raw materials, working to counter China in processing where it has the strongest hold on the supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>The company based in the Boston-area city of Woburn, Massachusetts, plans to build a bigger facility to extract and produce critical metals needed in not only defense but also the aerospace and automotive industries.<\/p> <div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe call it the freedom facility because, ultimately, the purpose of this is to ensure that the entire Western Hemisphere, the United States and its allies are free of Chinese influence within the rare-earth space,\u201d Balladon said.<\/p>\n<p>On a recent afternoon, two technicians in heat-resistant hazmat suits were operating an apparatus of cylinders, tubes, funnels and control panels set up on a platform with bright yellow railings. A chemical process involving electricity removes oxygen and turns the material into a grayish metal that can be used to make the extremely strong permanent magnets used in fighter jets, missiles, radar systems and drones.<\/p>\n<p>The metals that Phoenix Tailings refines and other critical minerals play \u201can outsized role\u201d in defense systems, Balladon said. A $150 million weapons system won\u2019t work if it\u2019s missing critical minerals that may be worth only $20,000 to $30,000, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The defense sector is particularly reliant on the metal samarium and needs 50 to 100 tons each year, but U.S. capacity is very limited, he said.<\/p> <div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Phoenix Tailings is among the few companies capable of producing the final metal, according to Balladon, but its capacity is only about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) a year. He said the company will scale up to about 5 tons in the next three months but that it will be next year or 2028 before it reaches its goal of 120-ton capacity.<\/p>\n<h4>Another US magnet maker looks to France for raw materials<\/h4>\n<p>Arnold Magnetic Technologies for years relied on China for samarium to produce the extremely strong, stable-in-high-temperatures magnet that goes into precision-guided missiles such as Tomahawks.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t work anymore. For Arnold, the solution to getting the critical minerals it needs has come from a relic of Europe\u2019s past rare-earth industry \u2014 abandoned mining dirt in the French city of La Rochelle.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3337\">Colorado weather: Triple-digit heat, wildfire smoke from the Pacific Northwest<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Solvay, a Belgium-headquartered chemical company, stopped separating and processing rare earths from the mined dirt in the 2000s. That was when China was building up most of the world\u2019s processing capacity with a determination to dominate the industry.<\/p>\n<p>China\u00a0weaponized that near-monopoly\u00a0last year by choking off its flow of processed critical materials and forcing the U.S. government to back off during a trade war. Solvay then restarted work and has added other rare earths this year, including samarium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis ramp\u2011up is driven by several factors: rapidly growing demand for permanent magnets, increased geopolitical focus on supply chain security, and strong customer demand in Europe and the United States for more diversified, resilient and traceable sources of supply,\u201d a Solvay spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>For Arnold Magnetic Technologies, paying more to get its supply from Solvay instead of China has not been a deal-breaker, because the samarium-cobalt magnets it makes account for only a small cost in a weapon system, said Matt Blake, Arnold\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are not the absolute cost drivers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, the company says the surge in demand for magnets has worked in its favor.<\/p>\n<p>Some concerns remain. The U.S. is dependent on imports of the critical mineral tungsten, with China controlling roughly 80% of the global mine supply and an even larger share of processing, according to Brodie Sutherland, CEO of Patriot Critical Minerals Corp.<\/p>\n<p>Sutherland, whose company seeks to explore and mine tungsten in the U.S., is concerned that America will not be able to get by without China-sourced tungsten after a Pentagon-imposed deadline of Jan. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to ramp up U.S. production will take years, he said, and in the meantime, the Pentagon and its defense contractors will need to rely on existing inventories, expanded recycling and limited non-China sources.<\/p>\n<h4>The Iran war and Trump\u2019s China order create pressure and opportunity<\/h4>\n<p>The need to increase production has become more urgent as\u00a0renewed fighting with Iran\u00a0digs into the U.S. military\u2019s already\u00a0diminished stockpiles\u00a0of advanced missile interceptors, including\u00a0Patriots\u00a0and\u00a0THAADs, according to\u00a0a recent analysis\u00a0from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.<\/p>\n<p>It also has raised concerns that the military would have diminished firepower in any potential future conflict with China. CSIS warned in May that\u00a0it could take at least three years\u00a0to replenish stockpiles of Tomahawks, Patriots and THAADs, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, President Donald Trump has announced stricter controls on defense contractors sourcing critical materials from China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is the policy of the United States that not only the finished equipment deployed by our military, but also the critical materials and components necessary to manufacture, maintain, sustain, and repair that equipment, are sourced domestically or from allied nations,\u201d the July 20 executive order says.<\/p>\n<p>Lockheed Martin, which makes THAADs and many other weapons systems, said \u201cwe continuously assess the global rare earth supply chain to ensure access to critical materials that support our customers\u2019 missions.\u201d Several other major U.S. defense contractors, including Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman, didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Balladon, of Phoenix Tailings, was confident in U.S. companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUltimately, with the right support and partners across the industry, we think we can make it happen,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3335\">GOP holdouts say they will back Blanche\u2019s attorney general nomination after striking deal over fund<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A small refinery tucked inside a New Hampshire office park is helping produce the critical minerals needed in the missiles used in the Iran war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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