Can Anyone Challenge China’s Near Monopoly On Metals Powering Our Tech? – Part 1/3 | Power Scramble
CNA Insider – 3-11, 2023
We want the newest gadgets, the most advanced electric vehicles, and a fully electrified future, but behind all of that is a class of critical metals: rare earths. These are the only metals in the world, to date, that can be used to create powerful and portable magnets, essential to everything from EVs to wind turbines. So why the worry? For decades, China has maintained an iron grip on the entire supply chain for rare earths. Today, demand is skyrocketing for rare earths, because the world is racing to electrify just about every part of our lives. Kartik Kuna is the first outsider to gain filming access to a particular magnet factory in Dongguan, China – one of many Chinese factories that are producing a huge majority of the world’s rare earth magnets. Just why is it so hard to outcompete China in this space? Kartik also witnesses for himself a startling statistic – China is building up offshore wind power capacity at breakneck pace… all of which requires rare earths.
00:00 Introduction
02:41 What are rare earths, and what are they used for?
08:09 Where are rare earths found around the world?
11:43 How did China come to dominate supply of rare earths?
17:10 Inside a factory making the world’s strongest magnets
22:08 Unseen magnets inside our devices
24:21 Green technology requires rare earth magnets
28:16 Australia’s foray into rare earth mining
34:50 Managing toxic waste mining byproducts
43:36 Why Australia wants to produce its own rare earth products
High Human Cost Of Feeding The World’s Growing Appetite For Rare Earths – Part 2/3 | Power Scramble
CNA Insider – 3-11-2023
Without superpowers a superhero is nothing. It’s much the same with rare earths – a powerful group of metals – without which nothing is possible. Rare earth metals make computers, tablets and smartphones supersmart. They are crucial for fighter jets, and high-tech weapons. Without them, the world’s shift to green energy would cease. Everybody wants these magical metals. But only one country controls them. In this episode, host Kartik Kuna confronts the consequences of this global imbalance. He discovers the hidden fallout on ordinary people in unlikely corners of the world. From the violent hilltops controlled by Myanmar’s military, to the villages of rural Malaysia that conceal a sinister truth, or to the arid bushland of Western Australia; no one is untouched in this scramble for ‘critical metal’ power.
00:00 Introduction
02:42 Illegal rare earth mining funding Myanmar’s junta?
05:27 What are rare earth metals?
08:30 How mining rare earths ‘poisons’ the ground
13:34 Illegal rare earth mines in Malaysia
16:46 Film crew stopped by local officials
21:06 Can Malaysia contest China’s rare earth monopoly?
26:55 Worries over radioactive waste near rare earth plants
30:09 Malaysia’s ugly history of bad toxic waste disposal
34:28 Rare earths as a geopolitical weapon
38:52 Australian mining town starting to process rare earths
42:41 Working conditions in Myanmar’s illegal mines
Vietnam’s Mineral Deposits Could Challenge China’s Rare Earths Dominance – Part 3/3 | Power Scramble
CNA Insider – 3-11-2023
Gallium is a critical metal to develop green technologies like electric vehicles and solar panels. Yet, one country supplies over 90% of this critical resource – China. So, when China began to restrict exports of gallium, it sparks a global scramble to find alternative sources. Gallium is usually extracted from bauxite. This leads our host Kartik Kuna to travel to China’s southern neighbour, Vietnam. Vietnam holds one of world’s largest reserves of bauxite. Yet Kartik realises that having bauxite in the ground, doesn’t automatically translate into gallium riches. Wrapped up in this global pursuit for gallium are complications that could even impact your cup of coffee!
00:00 Introduction
01:49 Gallium, a critical metal for electronics
06:44 Extracting aluminum and gallium from bauxite ore
10:14 Vietnam’s requirements to restore land after mining
15:01 Impact of mining on surrounding communities
21:34 Opportunities for workers moving to Nhan Co
28:08 Is the cost of extracting gallium worth the benefit?
36:42 Competing land uses in densely-populated Vietnam
39:59 Industrial bauxite mining hurting coffee farmers
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