China is willing to meet reasonable demand for rare earths from other countries, but it would be unacceptable that countries using Chinese rare earths to manufacture products would turn around and suppress China.
Lynas' status as a non-Chinese producer came into sharper focus this week after major Chinese newspapers reported Beijing was ready to use rare earths to strike back in its trade war with the US.
A report by state news agency Xinhua paints a particularly grim picture of China's rare earth industry which belies the notion that China's crackdown has more to do with managing supply and extracting lofty profits than it is about cleaning up a notoriously dirty business.
The 216 million tonne Jongju deposit 150km north of Pyongjang, theoretically worth trillions of dollars, would more than double the current global known resource of REE oxides.
