US company successfully refined high-purity rare earths, taking a 'historic step' in breaking China's monopoly? After reading it, China was speechless for a long time: this idea is simply too bizarre!
This US company called Energy Fuels has made a "big news" — they announced that at their White Mesa plant in Utah, they have successfully refined dysprosium oxide with a purity of up to 99.9%! This is not ordinary metal; dysprosium oxide is a key additive for manufacturing high-performance neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, which are essential for wind power generators, electric vehicle motors, and precision robots.
Americans are excitedly claiming: this is "genuine American-made," with raw materials sourced from monazite mines in Florida and Georgia, marking a "historic step" for the United States in breaking China's rare earth monopoly.
It sounds impressive, right? But let's do some math and see how far this "step" really is.
First, let's talk about output. What is the current capacity of this company for dysprosium oxide? It's 0.002 tons per week, or 8.5 kilograms per month, and less than 0.1 ton per year. You didn't misread — the difference between "kilograms" and "tons." To make it more intuitive, we'll convert it into grams — their monthly output is 8,500 grams.
Now let's look at the data from China's side. According to statistics published by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, in May 2025 alone, China's production of dysprosium oxide reached 292.9 tons, or 292,900 kilograms, or 29.3 million grams. Compare the US annual output (about 102 kilograms) with China's monthly output (29.29 tons), the gap is nearly 2,870 times. If we force a percentage comparison, the US annual output is approximately 0.035% of China's monthly output. In other words, China's monthly output is nearly 2,870 times the US annual output.
This is like comparing someone using a massive dam to generate electricity, while you just lit a small night light and claimed, "We finally have electricity, and we can challenge the hydropower giants."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846739325556739/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.