To compete with China, US needs to rebuild rare earth talent from the ground up
The US needs to rebuild its rare earth talent to compete with China, as the decisive factor in becoming a mining powerhouse lies in human capital. The US faces a significant talent gap, with China producing over 3,000 mining engineers annually, compared to around 300 in the US.
The US drive to reduce reliance on China for rare earths and critical minerals requires more than fixing resource gaps; it needs to rebuild talent. China's dominance stems from decades of accumulated engineering expertise, with a deep pool of rare earth separation specialists. In contrast, the US has fewer than 100 such engineers, with a significantly ageing demographic. China has expanded training capacity, establishing new degree programs and research institutes, and strengthening academia-industry coordination. The US faces a talent gap, with processing costs for rare earths about four times higher than in China. Rebuilding expertise will take at least a decade, with the primary challenge lying in downstream operations such as processing and manufacturing.
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