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Inside China’s six-decade campaign to dominate rare earths
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A refinery on the outskirts of Wuxi, China, is the world's sole producer of ultra-pure dysprosium, a rare earth metal needed for artificial intelligence chips.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Keith Bradsher
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WUXI, China – The origin of China’s dominance of rare earths can be traced to an iron ore mine near Baotou in the country’s north, 80.5km from the Mongolian border.
It was April 1964 and Chinese geologists had discovered that the mine also held the world’s largest deposit of rare earths, a set of 17 metals that have become essential ingredients for today’s global economy.
