By capturing sites that produce roughly half of the world's heavy rare earths, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) rebels have been able to throttle the supply of minerals used in wind turbines and electric vehicles.
Donald Trump's executive order on boosting domestic minerals production is intended to blast a path through the thicket of mine permitting in the United States.
Astron Energy will invest up to six billion rand ($328 million) to install new equipment and become compliant with South Africa's cleaner fuel specifications.
