Rare

university courses dedicated to rare earths

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The West is clear about breaking China’s dominance over the rare earth. But the challenge is not only that, but that Beijing has been cultivating a pool of specialists for decades trained since university. And according to a Reuters investigationthe country has built an entire educational ecosystem dedicated to these critical minerals. What is happening. Every year, several hundred young Chinese study university degrees focused specifically on rare earths, the 17 elements that power many of the advanced devices and technology of our time, from jet engines to electric cars to wind turbines and much more. Reuters identified at least 11 universities and technical centers that offer these degrees, with more than 500 students enrolled per year, in addition to more than 40 specialized laboratories spread throughout the country. Outside of China, according to the same media, there is no center that offers a specific university degree in rare earths. Why it is important. China processes more than 90% of rare earths refined and of the magnets of the world. And apart from mines and factories, people are also needed who know how to extract and separate elements of almost identical chemistry, a technically complex and expensive process. And the advantage of Beijing, in addition to geological and industrial, is that it also has the talent. In detail. Just like details In the middle, a good part of these schools and laboratories are concentrated near the large mines. An example is Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, about 150 kilometers from the largest rare earth deposit in the world. There, the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology trains students who receive more than 100 hours of classes in subjects such as rare earth chemistry and materials science, some taught directly in the facilities of companies in the sector. The industry is so tied to these schools that it is normal for students to start working immediately. “In China, I hired kids straight out of college and they were instantly productive; anywhere else I needed to train them for three years,” explained to Reuters Constantine Karayannopoulos, former CEO of the companies Neo Performance Materials and Molycorp. Between the lines. Some universities openly acknowledge that they are forming geopolitical assets. Li Chaozhong, dean of the rare earth program at Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (JXUST), counted told state television CCTV that these minerals are “essential bargaining chips” in global politics, and that his university’s new program also seeks to ensure that China maintains its global leadership in the sector. JXUST students learn the entire supply chain, from processing and metallurgy to magnets, and work on research projects with companies before graduating. ccontrast with the West. Although the refining of rare earths It was Western dominion. Until the end of the 20th century, the industry practically disappeared from Europe and the United States, and with it specialized training. As the media highlights, mining has never attracted much attention to American students, who often see it as a dirty and old-fashioned sector. In 2023, US institutions They awarded just over 200 titles mining engineering and metallurgy generalists. There are specific exceptions, such as the Colorado School of Mines, which is preparing new research centers with the Department of Energy, but little else. Why is it so difficult to close the gap? China has tightened in recent years export restrictions of technology and equipment for rare earths, and according to sources cited by Reuterswould have limited contact between its technicians and foreigners, going so far as to withdraw passports from some of them. Control was intensified following the “Liberation Day” tariffs announced by Donald Trump in April 2025. And now what. The United States has begun to move, with billions of dollars allocated from 2024 to rebuild their experience in mining and legislative proposals to cooperate with allies in formation. The complicated thing is to build a pool of specialists like the one in China. That is something that is not achieved overnight. Cover image | Dominic Vanyi and Arthur Wang In Xataka | The treasure that Europe was looking for in China is in Jaén: rare earth concentrates of 19.4%

19.4% rare earth concentrates

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For the transition, rare earths are needed like breathing: they are simply essential to make electric cars or wind turbines. However, rare earths have a master and mistress: China, the country that holds the bulk of the reserves and production, because almost as important as having a deposit in your domains is having the expensive industry necessary for its processing, a necessary requirement for its use. Europe has been looking for years to break that dependency and with its law Critical Raw Materials Act has put the turbo on: by 2030 it wants at least 10% of critical raw materials to come from the old continent. Then Jaén, an old acquaintance of the mining industry, appears. The Australian Osmond Resources Since 2024, it has been investigating a critical mineral deposit in the surroundings of Sierra Morena under the name of the Orión project and after obtain research permit of the Spanish Government, in just eight months it has gone from being a geological promise to becoming a the strongest candidate in the EU to produce rare earths domestically. Osmond’s discovery. In November 2025, Osmond communicated to the Australian Stock Exchange the results of the first relevant survey carried out in “Menipe”, an area of ​​up to 228 square kilometers between Aldeaquemada, Santisteban del Puerto, Castellar and Montzón: in an interval of just 1.5 meters and at a depth of 108 meters appeared concentrations of 15.92% titanium dioxide, 5.67% zirconium dioxide and 1.15% total rare earth oxides, with especially high values ​​in magnetic oxides, the most industrially valuable. Translated into mineralogy, this means 15.7% rutile, 9.8% zircon and 1.7% monazite. Four months later, collect Hora Jaén that the SGS Lakefield laboratories in Canada have validated that the processing of monazite from the deposit allows obtaining a concentrate with 19.4% of total rare earth oxides, after a process that eliminates worthless materials from the raw rock extracted. The zircon reaches a purity of 50.2% in the concentrate, with plans to exceed 66% in subsequent phases, which means reaching the premium category in the international market. Location of the deposit. Osmond Resources Why is it important. This first test leaves some striking numbers: the concentrations of titanium and zirconium are, according to the company itself, ‘globally competitive’. The processing of monazite reaches 19.4% of Total Rare Earth Oxides, of which a quarter corresponds to neodymium and praseodymium, the essential elements to manufacture the magnets for wind turbines and electric cars. Finding that quality and processing viability on European soil is simply unusual. Furthermore, unlike the majority of European critical minerals projects, which remain in extraction, Orión aims to cover the entire value chain: from the mine to the production of separated oxides ready for industry. This is differential in Europe. In the legal framework sponsored by the Critical Raw Materials Law and a mineral geopolitics dominated by China, Orion is much more than a mining project: it is exactly the type of asset that Europe needs to advance towards its technological sovereignty, of imperative need for the trade and industry of the old continent. Context. As we mentioned in the intro, the land is a historical site of mining in the Spanish state: the Linares-La Carolina region was during the 19th and 20th centuries one of the most important lead extraction areas in Europe and between the 50s and 70s there were already explorations in search of uranium, thorium and heavy minerals that were never exploited, partly due to the technical limitations of the time. This history has been essential in determining the target areas of the current program. At the regional level, Andalusia concentrates close to 90% of the value of Spanish metal mining and has a few research permits underway. That is to say, Orión is not an isolated case, it is the spearhead of a mining ecosystem that is being reactivated with European legislation stepping on the accelerator. Geology works in its favor, but everything else is missing. How have they done it. Osmond entered Spain by establishing Green Mineral Resources SL, its local subsidiary, and obtained the research permit published in the BOE in September 2025. The research plan has a duration of three years divided into progressive phases that start from the collection of historical information or the preparation of geological cartography to technically and economically evaluate the results. When the first surveys showed solid data in November 2025, the company communicated it to the Australian stock exchange and that was the trigger for everything. With the data on the table, agreements came quickly. In February 2026 signed with Técnicas Reunidasone of the largest Spanish engineering companies, to design and build what aspires to be the largest rare earth processing plant in Europe. In addition, they have partnered with other leading companies such as SGS Lakefield in Canada to expedite the project and give it the necessary packaging to attract European investors and organizations. Yes, but. As of today, the Orión project is in its infancy: there is no official resource estimate, no exploitation license, and no approved environmental impact assessment. The current permit only authorizes research and that does not guarantee anything. The case of Matamulas Ciudad Real is the best example: a site with high geological potential that generated great social rejection and that the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha has already blocked on three occasions. Likewise, there is a technical detail absent in the project communications: the monazite contains thorium and this is a radioactive element. While it is true that it is technically manageable, it involves waste with specific environmental and regulatory implications that will make social acceptance difficult when it is made known. He low initial investment model It focuses on concentrates to start, but the jump to separated oxides (where the interesting thing is) requires a complex, expensive and intensive hydrometallurgical plant. The potential is real and the data is solid, but the road to having an operational mine is long and full of mines. In Xataka | A mining company believes … Read more

China is preparing the most powerful and rare exascale supercomputer on the planet. No GPU: only Chinese CPUs

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An exascale supercomputer is one capable of performing at least 1 exaflop (10¹⁸) of floating point operations per second. These machines are the most powerful currently available if we stick to classic computers and leave aside the prototypes of quantum computers. The classification TOP500 identifies the most capable supercomputers on the planetand, as expected, four exascale machines appear at the top of this list: The Captain, FrontierAurora and Jupiter. The first three reside in the United States and the fourth in Germany. Curiously, no Chinese supercomputer appears in the top ten positions of this classification, although we know that some of its most powerful machines are not officially reported to the TOP500 for geopolitical reasons. Be that as it may, the Government led by Xi Jinping is determined to change this scenario. And the Shenzhen National Supercomputing Center has announced that is going to build a supercomputer called Lingshen that, according to this institution, will have a sustained performance of more than 2 exaflops and will integrate only components designed and manufactured in China. Lingshen supercomputer architecture is very unusual The supercomputer ‘The Captain’ from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA) is a real beast. This machine exceeds 1.8 exaflops, making it currently the most powerful on the planet. The APUs are responsible for its brute force. Instinct MI300A from AMD, which work hand in hand with the EPYC 9005 processors. However, the most surprising thing is that it brings together no less than 11,340,000 cores and delivers 1,809 PFlops/s Rmax and 2,821.10 PFlops/s Rpeak. Lingshen will bring together 47,000 processors of Chinese origin that will be distributed in Huawei Kunpeng servers The architecture of ‘El Capitan’ is very similar to that of the other supercomputers in the TOP500 classification, but the machine being prepared by the Shenzhen National Supercomputing Center is going to take different paths. And it is that according to Lu Yutongthe director of this center, the Lingshen supercomputer will use only general purpose processors (CPU), and will not use GPU. Not a single one. It is a very unusual decision, and it is surprising that in theory it will exceed 2 exaflops only with this type of chips. Be that as it may, this is not the only thing we know. Lingshen will bring together 47,000 processors of Chinese origin that will be distributed in servers Huawei Kunpeng equipped with Taishan cores with ARM architecture. Lu Yutong has also confirmed that this machine will have 650PB of storage and a million-port interconnection. Everything that the Shenzhen National Supercomputing Center has announced sounds great, but this project also leaves us with some very reasonable doubts. The most obvious is that Lingshen is just a project at the moment. It has not yet been built, so its theoretical maximum performance comes from an estimate and not from a measurement provided by a real test bench. On the other hand, it is very surprising that the Shenzhen National Supercomputing Center has chosen to integrate only CPU. Huawei, Moore Threads and Cambricon Technologies are three of the chinese companies which have domestically made GPUs that could presumably fit into this machine. In any case, it is worth keeping track of this project to see if Lingshen finally lives up to the expectations it has raised. Image | TOP500.org More information | Shenzhen National Supercomputing Center In Xataka | The Frontier supercomputer is the second most powerful exascale machine on the planet. And it has a mission: nuclear fusion

This week, the new ‘Stranger Things’, a rare British series and the return of Charlize Theron

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The week of April 20 to 26 comes full of news to Netflix. The most media premiere and expected by long-time fans of the platform is the first spin-off of ‘Stranger Things‘, an animated series subtitled ‘Stories of 85’ and which takes place between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series. But it’s not the only thing we have this week: there is the British thriller ‘The Not Chosen’ and a fast-paced thriller starring the platform’s very regular Charlize Theron, who will put her most extreme survival skills into play. Series Stranger Things: Stories from ’85 First animated spin-off of ‘Stranger Things’, which allows us to recover the characters loved by fans with the ages of the first seasons (specifically, between the second and third), avoiding that annoying mania of the actors to grow and mature. Winter 1985 in Hawkins: The tranquility after the explosive end of the second year is shattered when a new threat emerges from The Other Side. The Duffer brothers serve as executive producers of this proposal seeking to recreate the aesthetics of Saturday morning cartoons from the eighties. The animation by the Australian studio Flying Bark Productions mixes modern techniques with retro sensibility but, yes, the original actors of the series do not participate in the dubbing. The unelected British psychological thriller that at some point is reminiscent of the memorable ‘The Leftovers’ and follows a young mother who lives with her husband and daughter within a hermetic Christian community. The appearance of an escaped prisoner reveals the reality and restrictions of that closed world, raising doubts about whether the community really looks out for Rosie’s best interests. Asa Butterfield, who plays the husband, was the protagonist of ‘Sex Education’ and among the supporting cast we have none other than the former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston. Other series Funny AF with Kevin Hart – April 20 Here we talk about orchards – April 22 Santita – April 22 Hulk Hogan: Real American – April 22 A love that never ends – April 22 He teacher – April 23 ORna new move (T2) – April 23 The Trials of Winnie Mandela – April 23 If the wishes they will kill – April 24 Movies Dominant predator Poxo sexy (although literal) Spanish translation of the much more suggestive original ‘Apex’, a survival thriller with which Charlize Theron returns to Netflix after the sequel to ‘The Old Guard’, which went somewhat unnoticed. Here she plays a grieving woman who ventures alone into the outback Australian and ends up trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a psychopath played by Taron Egerton. Directed by Icelandic Baltasar Kormákur, accustomed to dangerous environments like those of ‘Everest’ or ‘Drifting’. The best: Theron performed much of her own action scenes, as usual, and trained with professional climber Beth Rodden, so we will have a good physical display of the actress, who usually gives herself to the maximum in the genre. Usual Suspects One of the undisputed classics of the wave of thrillers that devastated the screens in the nineties with a cast that still impresses today: Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Gabriel Byrne and Benicio del Toro. A customs agent investigates a fire with 27 victims on a ship in the port of Los Angeles. Through the story of a conman who survived the massacre, the film reconstructs how five criminals met in a police lineup and ended up entangled in an operation orchestrated by Keyser Söze, a legendary and feared crime lord. Director Bryan Singer and Kevin Spacey gained international recognition with this film written by Christopher McQuarrie, who would later direct the most spectacular installments of ‘Mission Impossible’, here in an early work for which he conceived one of the most memorable and influential final twists in history. Other movies Lainey Wilson: Country is still playing – April 22 Yiya Murano: Death at tea time – April 23 All sides of the bed – April 24 In Xataka | Netflix is ​​desperate to find the next franchise that will make it gold. The problem is that he can’t find it.

A frantic race has begun between China and the US for Brazil’s rare earths. And Brazil only asks for one thing in return.

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After a diplomatic incident with Japan, China abruptly reduced its exports of rare earths, causing an immediate shock in industries around the world that depended on these materials to manufacture everything from magnets to advanced electronics. For weeks, companies and governments discovered the extent to which a seemingly invisible resource could become a lever of global power. A global race that is decided far from Washington and Beijing. This push for critical minerals has entered a new phase, with Brazil now converted on the board where the interests of the United States and China intersect. The reason? They both search ensure access to key rare earths for technology, defense and energy transition, but this time they are not negotiating on equal terms. Brazil, with one of the largest reserves in the world, has made it clear tons of common sense: that it does not want to repeat the historical role of simple exporter of raw materials, and is using that position to redefine the rules of the game. The US accelerates, but Brazil slows down. Washington has intensified its offensive with multi-million dollar investment proposalsbilateral agreements and formulas to guarantee direct supply to US companies. It has even started to secure rights on production through financing, trying to close the path to China in a supply chain that it considers strategic. However, this approach has been perceived in Brazil like too aggressivewhich has generated political resistance and has stopped agreements that, on paper, would benefit both parties. China is still in the game. Meanwhile, China has not disappeared from the board, but quite the opposite: is still the main global player in the processing of rare earths and maintains active commercial relations with Brazil. Exports to the Asian giant have grownand its industrial experience remains difficult to match in the short term. This puts Brazil in a unique position, where it can negotiate simultaneously with multiple powers without being forced to choose, at least for now. The Brazilian condition. This is where Brazil introduces its strategic turn: opening the door to foreign capital, there is no problem with that, but with a clear and unusual condition in this type of agreement. It is not enough to extract resources, but any partner must contribute to local technological development, processing within the country and job creation. In other words, Brazil demands to transform its mineral wealth in own industrial capacitybreaking with decades of dependence in which it exported raw materials and imported finished products. From exporter to industrial power. This change of focus is translating in concrete proposalssuch as the possible creation of a state company to manage critical minerals or a battery of laws aimed at strengthening national control over the sector. The idea is clear: go from selling resources to build the entire chain of value within the country, from extraction to manufacturing of key components. There is no doubt that it will not be a quick or easy process, but it marks an ambition that goes far beyond a simple commercial agreement. The real pulse: who accepts Brazil’s rules. In essence, the competition between the United States and China for Brazilian rare earths is no longer fought only in terms of investment or access, but in who is willing to accept the conditions that third parties imposein this case Brazil. Because the country is not saying “no” to anyone, but something more uncomfortable for the great powers: “yes, but on our terms.” And that introduces a new element in the geopolitics of resources, one where control no longer depends only on who needs the minerals and has the money, but on who has the capacity (and the will) to impose the rules of the game. For Brazil, a master move. Image | NZ Defense Force, YouTube In Xataka | China has just discovered the largest deposit of rare earths in the world. And he did it just when he needed it most. In Xataka | The world’s rare earth reserves, laid out in this graph showing the brutal dominance of a single country

Campo de Montiel has rare earths to cover 33% of European demand, according to a mining company. The Board has said “no, thank you”

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Oil may be the resource that makes most of the headlines today, but the rare earthare “the cover” of the technology industry: they are decisive practically in any sector and also set the geopolitical agenda at a time of tariffs and vetoes. And if there is a country that cuts cod into rare earths (spoiler: They are neither earth nor are they rarebut 17 metals) that is China: there is no one to cough or in reserves neither in production. There was a time when The United States dominated this sectorbut that time passed away. And Europe? Well, at the moment rare earths are not produced, but we are working on it: has stepped on the accelerator at the Per Geijer superminein Kiruna (Sweden), where you could get 18% of what you need. Meanwhile, in a place in La Mancha whose name I don’t want to remember, there is who points that could obtain 2,100 tons per year of lanthanides, enough to cover 33% of European needs. There is only one little problem: the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha has said that they are not interested. And they are not alone. Campo de Montiel is a (potential) mine. Back in 2013 the Spanish company Quantum Mining put under his magnifying glass the region of Campo de Montiel, in Ciudad Real. Next to Torrenueva is that promising site that is the object of your desires: Matamulas. According to their analysis, it is full of monazite (along with bastnasite, the main rare earth ore) gray. But really loaded: the company assures that in Campo de Montiel more than 2,100 tons could be produced per year. Is that a lot or a little? According to the company, it is approximately a third of European consumption needs, although Eurostat figure in 12,900 annual tons imported by 2024, which would leave the percentage around 16% (the company does not publicly detail with what reference it calculates that third). The firm lands it with applications such as the construction of 350,000 electric cars or 10,000 wind turbines. Quantum Mining Production Estimates “We’re not interested.” A month ago Quantum Minería tried again and you already have an answer of the autonomous government: Mercedes Gómez, the Minister of Sustainable Development, explains that they are not interested in holding a competition so that tastings can be carried out at the Matamulas site. Not again: in 2013 the Board granted the mining company (and two other companies) exploitation permits, which was rejected in 2017. In 2024 came back to request permits, this time framed within the Neodimio project, again encountering a no. The EU also left them outside of their strategic projects. What Quantum wants to do. The mining plan It involves temporarily removing a half-meter layer of vegetation (mainly cereal) so that, once the process is finished, it can be reused in the restoration. Afterwards, backhoes extract two meters deep to reach the gray monazite. That material is taken to a concentration plant to be screened using physical processes, without chemical additives, so that the soil can be returned to its site later. Then the land is leveled and the crop is replaced. These works are carried out hectare by hectare, so that it does not interrupt the agricultural processes in the surroundings. According to the company, when the land is restored it can be cultivated “even in better conditions than the original ones.” Why not. Given the insistent interest of Quantum, the citizen platform ‘Yes to the Living Land‘ and other citizen activism movements once again opposed, in addition to one of the wineries in the region. A decade ago Ecologists in Action detailed that the environmental impact of this operation on the 27,500 hectares included in the project would be severe. One of the bottlenecks is water: for this operation they estimate that between 310,000 and 500,000 cubic meters of water would be needed annually during the estimated ten years of exploitation (washing and processing are two processes that consume a lot of water). In that area the water pressure is high, with droughts, reservoirs in states of emergency, overexploited aquifers and intense grassroots agricultural activity as icing on the cake. In addition, in the region there are two Special Protection Areas for Birds and it is the habitat of the lynx. In Xataka | The world’s rare earth reserves, laid out in this graph showing the brutal dominance of a single country In Xataka | Europe seeks its sovereignty in rare earths and knows how to achieve it the fast way: with a supermine in Sweden Cover | ダモリ and Karen Paredes Carabantes

China has just discovered the largest deposit of rare earths in the world. And he did it just when he needed it most.

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China has a privileged position in terms of possession of rare earthbut it has just surprised the world with a new discovery: the Ministry of Natural Resources has confirmed that the Maoniuping deposit, in Sichuan province, is now the largest deposit of light rare earths on the planet. The news comes at a key moment, since it is these minerals that are the protagonists one of the hottest fronts between Beijing and Washington in their tariff war. What exactly has been found. New exploration in the Maoniuping mining area in Mianning county has confirmed the existence of 9.67 million tons of rare earth oxideswhich represents an increase of more than 300% compared to the reserves that were known until now, as announced by the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources. With this data, the deposit surpasses that of Bayan Obo, in Inner Mongolia, which until now held the title of the largest light rare earth mine in the world with 44 million tons of proven industrial reserves. In addition to rare earth oxides, surveys have identified 27.1 million tons of fluorspar and 37.2 million tons of barite, both classified as deposits of exceptional scale. Why does it matter? Rare earth elements are the 17 elements that make electric car engines, fiber optic amplifiers, advanced weapons systems and smartphones possible, among many other technological elements that we use in our daily lives. Without them, much of the technology and defense industry simply does not work. China already produces more than 80% of the world supply annual of these materials, according to the state agency Xinhua. And this discovery further reinforces China’s position until now. The discovery within the discovery. According to Wang Denghong, director of the Institute of Mineral Resources of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, what is truly striking about the discovery is not only the rare earths but fluorite and barite. Fluorite is an essential ingredient in the manufacturing of semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries. Barite, for its part, is essential in oil and gas extraction: it is used to stabilize wells and prevent blowouts. Without this element, hydrocarbon exploration, including fracking, would be paralyzed. Restrictions. Since April last year, China introduced export restrictions on seven rare earths and permanent magnets, precisely in response to the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump about Chinese products. China controls the gateway to rare earths, and basically any company that wants to take these materials out of the country needs express government authorization. Exports to Europe have picked up since the new licensing regime was implemented. Those going to the United States remain stagnant, according to collect Interesting Engineering. What’s coming now. With this discovery, Beijing consolidates its ability to use critical minerals as diplomatic and commercial leverage. The West has been trying for years diversify your supply chains of rare earths with projects in Australia, Canada or northern Europe, but none yet approach the scale of the Asian country. Cover image | aboodi vesakaran and ZME Science In Xataka | In 2010, Japan learned to acquire its rare earths without depending on China. Germany wants to copy its strategy now

Something strange happens with recreational bluefin tuna fishing in Spain. And yes, ‘rare’ in this headline means (presumably) ‘fraud’

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In Spain, recreational bluefin tuna fishing has many rules and regulations, but there is something essential that starts from the same name: it is (and should be) ‘recreational’. That is, Spanish rules only allow the capture and release of Thunnus thynnus. And yet, the quota of accidental deaths (about 39.9 tons in 2025) is being exhausted very quickly (It lasted three days that same 2025). That is to say, (according to the available data) almost all the tunas that get hooked at the beginning of the closed season end up dead. Spanish fishermen They are unable to return almost any of them alive.. It’s already bad luck. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, they return up to 99%. It’s not a fish story. Although it may seem like it, this is not about fish, no. It involves mandatory training, required equipment, handling protocols and, above all, effective control. Although it may not seem like it, this is about how it is possible for two European countries to produce such radically different results. And, above all, it is about how we can solve it. Because it is undeniable that we have a problem. It makes no sense that recreational fishing in Spain has become a race to go fishing first. In the last five years, the longest effective fishing season was seven days in 2021. That is to say, it took the fishermen a week to accidentally kill so many tuna that the fishery was over. In 2022 and 2023 there were five days and In the following years, three. 75% of last year’s accidents, by the way, took place in the Valencian Community. With tougher regulations, this does not happen. It is true, however, that the data is somewhat unfair. While Spain has 1,900 special licenses, the United Kingdom has with barely 81 boats with active permits. That, whether we like it or not, simplifies things. But it’s not just a question of size. It is, above all, a question of why The reason the British system is different is also interesting: until a handful of years ago (about 2017) there was no bluefin tuna in its waters. There was nothing to fish. Since then it has started to come back (as It has happened with many other species) and the authorities were able to create a more guaranteeing system without the pressure of an already consolidated industry. Hence a smaller number of boats, the specific training of skippers and, above all, the boats are obliged to have independent observers and cameras to record what happens inside (at least, with new skippers). So there is no hope? Something is being done and it is good to recognize it: this January it came into force a regulation that tries to digitize the capture record and close the “statistical black hole”. The experts are worse They are not very optimistic either.. They fear that in this context (three days of closure and an implicit mortality that is around 100%), it is clear that recreational pressure is only going to complicate things. And, in the end, the solution will only come when the current system bursts at the seams. It is not an anomaly: we are specialists in it. The good news and the bad news are the same: that this is going to happen soon. Image | Aristos Aristidou | Jordan Whitfield In Xataka | Spain is going to continue fishing for eels until we have no more eels to catch

Germany wants to do what Japan did with rare earths in 2010: join forces against China

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BMW, Rheinmetall and the main German industries are working on the creation of a joint agency to purchase critical mineralsa move that would reduce dependence on China, according to they count from Financial Times. The idea is to pursue the model that Japan proposed a few years ago, and the story behind it explains why it makes sense. The starting point. In 2010, China imposed an embargo on rare earth exports to Japan in the midst of a territorial dispute. Tokyo depended on these materials to manufacture everything from cars to electronics. To alleviate the mess they had gotten themselves into, they decided to build an alternative architecture. They created JOGMEC (Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security), a state agency that collaborates with the country’s main conglomerates to ensure the supply of minerals, oil and gas. With this, Japan significantly reduced its dependence on China for rare earths. What Germany is building now. According to counted In the middle, BMW works together with the VDA automobile lobby and representatives of the German defense industry in order to develop a structure similar to what Japan did at the time. Rheinmetall is also in the talks. The specific idea is to create a kind of large private company that bulk buys critical raw materials (lithium, gallium, germanium, rare earths) on behalf of German industry. Just like share In the middle, the federal government could participate with a minority stake. The figures are not yet finalized, but the total cost of the project could amount to several hundred million euros. Why now. Last year, China imposed export controls on essential materials for batteries, permanent magnets and weapons systems. In November it temporarily suspended some of these restrictions until November 2026, but the scare was already in place. Europe was exposedwithout real alternatives, without negotiating power, nothing to do. And German industry (car manufacturers, defense companies, industrial machinery) realized how fragile its supply chain was. The Japanese model. JOGMEC works because it combines public capital with the agility that its large private companies allow, as they are structures with centuries of history in Japan specialized in industrial supply. Germany already has a raw materials agency, DERA, but sources close to the media recognize that needs a profound reform to fulfill that role. The agency being proposed now would have more muscle, with active financing, investment capacity in mining and recycling projects, and direct presence in the market. The state development bank KfW has already prepared a fund of 1 billion euros to finance mining, processing and recycling projects of critical materials, which would serve as a complement. Diplomacy. Just like account The media, Chancellor Friedrich Merz contacted Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this week, and critical minerals were on the table. And Japan has shown interest in exporting its model abroad. In parallel, this same week the media informed also that the Australian Lynas Rare Earths, the largest producer of rare earths outside China, has closed a supply agreement with Japan with a guaranteed minimum price of $110 per kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium for 12 years. The same price that Washington guaranteed to the American producer MP Materials. The tension with Brussels. The European Commission also works in a centralized body to coordinate strategic purchases and reserves of critical minerals. But from Germany there is skepticism. According to share FT, Germany’s position is that “the industry must make its own decisions” and that governments should limit themselves to managing strategic reserves. In other words, Berlin prefers a model of private initiative with specific state support rather than leaving the strategy in the hands of Brussels. What is at stake. Steel, lithium and rare earths are the backbone of the energy transition and European rearmament. Without neodymium there are no magnets for electric motors or guided missiles. Without gallium and germanium there are no advanced semiconductors. China controls between 60% and 90% of the production chain for most of these materials. Hence many countries are restless. Cover image | Prometheus and Wikimedia Commons In Xataka | The United States knows it has a problem with rare earths from China. And he believes he has an alternative: Mexico

China’s brutal dominance in rare earth production in the last 30 years, in a revealing graph

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There are few strategic natural resources as important as gas, gold or oil, but there is one that is less known and that is decisive in practically any industry and therefore, also in geopolitics: the rare earthwhich are neither earths nor rare (in fact, they are a list of 17 metals). The state that has enough rare earths in its territory and the capacity to extract them will have much to gain to become a power. Well, if you can cough China, the absolute leader in rare earths so much in reserves as in production. A picture is worth a thousand words. But today the power of China is discussed is one thing and another if the Asian giant started by winning the game. Spoiler: no. The United States Geological Survey It has a very complete database where to visualize production by country from 1994 to the present (among other information), but more than a table, it is better seen with images. Thus, at a glance you can see its beastly hegemony in this chart from Visual Capitalist from 1994 to 2024. 30 years of rare earth production. Visual Capitalist An animation still counts more. The Visual Capitalist illustration shows Chinese superiority, but the evolution of rare earth production by country is better seen with an animation showing its meteoric rise because yes, the global rare earth industry has been profoundly transformed in the last 30 years. In just three decades, China has gone from having a 47% quota to almost 70% of the 400,000 metric tons produced today (by the end of 2024). Or what is the same, going from manufacturing 31,000 metric tons to 270,000 metric tons, something that can be seen in this animation by Global Times and Valiant Panda: Tap to see the animation. Production by country of rare earths from 1994 to 2024, Global Times How America Lost Control. It’s worth stopping the animation at the beginning, because in the 90s the United States was the world’s largest producer of rare earths and Mountain Pass was its main plant for obtaining them. Its average extraction was around 20,000 – 22,000 tons. And then, in 1997, came the Mountain Pass environmental disaster: a burst pipe in the eponymous mine that contaminated the Movaje Desert with toxic radioactive waste. Between the disaster and the subsequent lawsuits, production suddenly fell to 5,000 tons between 1998 and 2002. It would then fall to 0 in the 2000s. It would be in the 2010s when it began to recover: now the United States is around 46,000 metric tons. As Rocío Jurado sang, now it’s too late, lady: it was also in the 90s when China went into steamroller mode. The unstoppable rise of China. That China has come to dominate world production hides several keys. The first, the ability of its suppliers to offer lower prices Thanks to state aid, laxer environmental standards and cheaper labor made possible costs that the West could not cope with. China had the resources, but its victory came because it was able to build an entire industry while the rest of the world watched. Producing the raw mineral is only the first step, then it must be separated to achieve a high degree of purity (between 95 and 99%, depending on the application) in a complex, expensive hydrometallurgical process that, as we have seen, leaves radioactive waste along the way. Where it still dominates more: refining. Because although China has a share of almost 70% of world production, its dominance is even more overwhelming in refining: it produces around 90% of world refining. In fact, other countries such as Australia or the United States extract minerals, they turn to China for refining. If there is no refining industry at the level of extraction, there is no sovereignty. Other faces. Trump wants to step on the accelerator of national mining and expedite permits, the EU also seeks its strategic sovereignty with laws such as the Critical Raw Materials law and its application in places like Per Geijer’s Swedish megamine. We have already talked about Australia, which at least until this year It will depend on China for refining those 16,000 metric tons that have been around in recent years, but there are other countries that have joined the race. But while the Global Times animation focuses on great powers, the Visual Capitalist graph reveals new players in the industry such as Myanmar, Thailand or Nigeria, especially focused on more scarce and valuable elements. However, their supply chains are unstable and have their own regulatory and geopolitical risks. In Xataka | The world’s rare earth reserves, laid out in this graph showing the brutal dominance of a single country In Xataka | Europe seeks its sovereignty in rare earths and knows how to achieve it the fast way: with a supermine in Sweden

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