Doesn’t China desperately need to sell these metals?
They do, but they put no restrictions on, say, cobalt-samarium magnets. Only on cobalt and samarium. Need to build a wind turbine or hybrid car motor? You need Co-Sm magnets.
The world’s largest known deposits, however, are to be found in an obscure and desolate outcrop of southern Greenland, says Nick Sudbury in the Zurich Club letter. Studies of the site show that the Ilimaussaq reserves would meet at least 25% of global rare earth demand for the next 50 years, says Leo Lewis in The Times. Extraction hasn’t yet begun because Greenland only gained full sovereignty over its natural resources on 1 January this year.