SERRA BLANCA, Texas (NewsNation) — An otherwise nondescript mountainside in West Texas could be part of the Trump administration’s solution to ending the United States’ reliance on countries like China for rare-earth materials that are essential to building missiles, fighter jets and technology.
NewsNation received an exclusive look at one key location that is being targeted for mining these rare materials. Locating these minerals could provide the United States with economic independence from China. Officials have gone as far as characterizing the issue as a matter of national security and say that mining operations could begin as early as 2028.
The Trump administration has announced plans to launch a coalition of partners on Friday, when the Pax Silica Declaration will be signed. The pact will unite Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Israel and is designed to address deficits in critical minerals access, which will edge out China’s massive investment in its critical minerals and tech sector, officials say.
Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump have been instrumental in China’s restriction of exports of rare-earth materials to the United States. Meanwhile, Trump has struck deals with Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Japan.
The Guardian recently reported that the United States and China have brokered a trade truce on rare-earth materials. However, China currently controls about 70% of global mining and more than 90% of global processing capacity. That has put the U.S. behind the 8-ball in trying to source more of these materials in places like Round Top Mountain in West Texas.
It has also allowed China to take control of the rare-earth supply chain and being able to manipulate geopolitical markets that the United States is now attempting to tap into. But to do so, work must be done to ensure the U.S. has enough natural resources at its disposal to make the kind of dent it is seeking to create.
“China has a corner on this market,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told NewsNation. “We think this is the only and largest complete set of rare earth minerals not under China’s control in the world. These are important for our jets to fly. It’s national security. It’s everyday convenience. It’s taking away this economic play from China.”
To accomplish that, more mining is expected to take place in locations like Round Top Mountain, where Dysprosium and Terbium, which are two critical rare-earth materials. Dysprosium is valued largely for its magnetic properties, which are used primarily in everyday electronics like smartphones and speakers, but also in defense systems.
Terbium, meanwhile, is another rare-earth material that is known for its bright green luminescence, which is used for lighting displays and high-performance magnets for electronics such as wind turbines, electric vehicles and sonar systems.
Buckingham says that Round Top Mountain is one of the most unique mining sites in the country. Inside the mountain, 17 rare-earth materials can be found that will be critical in helping eliminate China’s monopoly on the rare-earth market. All of the land where these materials can be found is state-owned but is then leased to mining companies such as USA Rare Earth.
Alex Moyes, the company’s vice president of mining, told NewsNation that the company has already conducted smaller-scale pilot programs that are helping locate rare-earth materials. He said that the magnets that are made from these valuable materials are critical in national security. For example, magnets are used in missile motors and to control the steering capabilities of the missile.
“So, if all of a sudden the magnet that’s steering your guided missile demagnetizes, you no longer have control of where your missile’s going to go,” Moyes told NewsNation.
Initially, the cost to mine these materials from the earth may be more expensive than paying for those in China. However, in time, the costs will drop as the supply chain scales and the U.S. conducts more rare-earth business with countries with which it has struck deals. For Buckingham, the investment the United States is making into the mining of these materials will be well worth the initial costs.
“(It’s about) our energy independence — that elemental independence — making sure our jets can fly, our missiles can work, our phones function, everything we need to educate our children,” Buckingham said. “It’s important to invest in America.”