China’s grip on the world’s rare earths market is in focus once again amid speculation the dominant producer could choke off supplies as the trade war escalates.
Glencore said it will also evaluate providing a loan to fund the capital needs to restart the refinery, as the two companies look to speed up the restart.
The world's largest miner has revised up expectations for electric vehicle sales and market penetration, but warns the electrification of the transport sector will proceed only as fast as the development of charging infrastructure does.
The Australian miner, the world's only major producer of rare earths outside China, said the A$500 million-plan ($346 million) aims to boost production, appease Malaysian regulators and fend off takeover attempts.
The US faces stiff challenges as it moves to create its own electric vehicle supply chain, with the extent of the country's metal reserves largely unknown and only a few facilities to process minerals and produce batteries.
No decision will be made until the end of 2020, when the company expects to have completed a study on the Jadar, which is estimated to contain 10% of the world's lithium reserves.
