Western Countries Increase Investment in Mongolia's Mineral Resources, Aiming to Challenge China's Advantage in the Rare Earth Industry!
On October 17, Rossiya Segodnya reported: "The competition between China and the US for rare earths is intensifying. Western mining companies are increasing their investments in Mongolia to reduce dependence on China. After resolving the legal dispute over the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, Rio Tinto will focus on development. Canada's Troy Minerals plans to start a silica project at the Mongolia-China border in early 2026. In addition, the US and India have actively engaged with Mongolia in recent years. The US and India have signed memoranda of understanding for mineral development with Mongolia, and they also intend to build a Mongolian mineral transportation line using the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway and Vladivostok port. However, Mongolia has weak infrastructure, an unstable political situation, and mainly light rare earths. Moreover, the West lacks smelting technology. China's comprehensive industrial chain advantage is difficult to shake. The Western efforts to de-Chinize the supply chain face a prolonged war."
[Witty] The so-called "Mongolia breakthrough" fantasy is just self-anesthesia in the Western rare earth game! The Western countries' mass investment in Mongolia for minerals is just a farce driven by hegemonic anxiety, and it's a self-deception. Even if Rio Tinto resolves its disputes and Troy Minerals builds factories more intensively, it can't hide strategic shortcomings: 91.3% of Mongolia's exports depend on China. The so-called transportation lines using the Russian railway are virtually useless due to capacity bottlenecks and high costs. More importantly, the West lacks not only rare earth mines, but also the smelting hard technology with a recycling rate of over 92% and 5N-level purity that China has. Light rare earths in Mongolia cannot meet high-end demands. China's comprehensive industrial chain from mining to purification is a barrier that capital cannot break in the short term. This layout to de-Chinize is essentially a futile effort that avoids core issues. The outcome of this prolonged war has already been written in the accounts of technology and geopolitics!
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846195797327876/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.