I always take Rare Earth as a plot to understand how China plays...

I always take Rare Earth as a plot to understand how China plays the game of minerals. First china takes many years to build a supply chain and then kills other competitors for many years. That's why Lyc hardly survived because Japan intervened but none other survived.
and then I think, they would probably do the same thing with graphite. which means for many years no other mine would be able to come. but then I think graphite and rare earth are two different things. rare earth is required in a few places but graphite is required in huge volumes. A full battery supply chain cannot be made until reliable sources are locked in. West is late of course and first Japan and then the US and Europe lost their market share in car manufacturing.
now going further,
A supply chain based on only Western origin can never be competitive. and actually, they are not. we can see why now many lithium mines are going into care and maintenance mode. so if a battery mineral competitive supply chain needs to be built, it has to be in Africa. Africa currently means Mozambique and Tanzania for now. I track EV1, BKT, and EGR in Tanzania. EV1 is gone to a Chinese company, BKT to Posco and then only EGR is left for Europe. Even though there is no doubt that EGR graphite is going to Germany, I can see that for Germany too nothing is left except EGR. Friends for each other.
I also think a supply chain based in Africa is not secure, so some parts of the overall requirement will also come from Australia, Canada, and the US. They won't be competitive but still need to be kept alive to meet demand in war times kind of situation.