"Typically, the Chinese aren’t waiting for a crisis to occur. Private and state-owned Chinese companies are moving to control rare earth resources in Australia, Africa and elsewhere, before the rest of the world realises that we’re in hot water. The Chinese will buy cheap raw materials abroad and capture most of the value at home.
Cash-strapped small mining companies ultimately turn to China for financing and offtake agreements, and their countries consequently lose sovereignty over their resources as well as losing the greater processed value of their minerals."
