Mainstream media are getting clued in - article in today's Australian, page-47

Thnx, definitely one of the better recent analysis.

"There is understood to be some frustration within the Australian taskforce on critical minerals about the lack of a clear strategy on the part of the US. The Pentagon knows what it wants, but aligning the viewpoints of the various US government agencies has been difficult and their Australian counterparties have been left in the dark."

That's very simply because US lacks any middle supply chain at scale to turn REO into functional materials, and it will take years to recreate one, plus massive subsidies.

Hence the US cannot quantify forward demand as it would simply be building stockpiles.

The proposed Texas HRE separation facility is predicated on the large majority of revenues flowing from Japanese magnet customers, US sales will be a very minor contribution.