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美国国防部一位高级官员表示，美国有望实现到 2027 年拥有满足国防需求的国内稀土元素供应链的目标。

美国希望减少对中国稀土材料的依赖，并将亲密盟友澳大利亚、加拿大和英国列为关键矿产供应的“国内”来源。

美国负责工业基础政策的助理国防部长劳拉·泰勒-凯尔 (Laura Taylor-Kale) 在采矿业会议上表示：“我们有望实现我们的目标，即到 2027 年建立可持续的矿山到磁体供应链，能够支持美国的国防需求。”据 路透社报道，周三在澳大利亚。

美国已经支持几家澳大利亚矿商建立稀土矿开采项目并建立供应链。

今年早些时候，澳大利亚战略材料公司收到了美国进出口银行 (US EXIM) 的一份无约束力和有条件的意向书 (LoI)，将为该项目的  建设和运营提供高达6 亿美元的债务融资方案。新南威尔士州稀土和关键矿产达博项目的执行阶段。

EXIM 还支持 澳大利亚上市公司 Meteoric Resources 在巴西的 Caldeira 稀土离子粘土项目。

另外，美国 国防部还资助 澳大利亚莱纳斯稀土公司在德克萨斯州建设稀土加工厂。

今年三月，国防部 表示 ，“近几个月来推进了发展国内供应链的目标，以确保持续获得制造美国重要军事武器系统中使用的永磁体所需的稀土材料。”

稀土永磁体是一系列防御能力的重要组成部分，包括 F-35 闪电 II 飞机、弗吉尼亚级和哥伦比亚级潜艇以及无人机。它们也是美国商业应用的重要组成部分。

国际能源署(IEA)本月在一份 报告中表示 ，预计到2030年，中国将持有77%的稀土元素精炼量，由于精炼集中，将稀土供应的地缘政治风险列为“高”在一个国家，中国。

作者：Oilprice.com 的 Tsvetana Paraskova

主要图片（来源：路透社）

Oil Price

The United States is on track to meet its goal to have by 2027 a domestic supply chain of rare earth elements for its defense needs, according to a senior official at the Department of Defense.

The U.S. looks to cut its reliance on Chinese rare earth materials and has classified close allies Australia, Canada, and the UK as a ‘domestic’ source of critical mineral supply.

“We are on track to meet our goal of a sustainable mine to magnet supply chain capable of supporting U.S. defence requirements by 2027,” Laura Taylor-Kale, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, said at a mining industry conference in Australia on Wednesday, as carried by Reuters.

The U.S. has already backed several Australian miners to set up projects to mine rare earth minerals and establish supply chains.

Earlier this year, Australian Strategic Materials received a non-binding and conditional Letter of Interest (LoI) from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) to provide a debt funding package of up to US$600 million for the construction and execution phase of the rare earths and critical minerals Dubbo Project in New South Wales.

EXIM is also supporting Australia-listed Meteoric Resources for its Caldeira Rare Earth Ionic Clay Project in Brazil.

Separately, the U.S. DoD is backing with funding the construction of a rare earths processing facility in Texas of Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths.

In March, DoD said that it “has in recent months advanced its goal of developing domestic supply chains to ensure continued access to the rare earth materials needed to manufacture the permanent magnets used in important U.S. military weapons systems.”

Rare earth permanent magnets are essential components in a range of defense capabilities, including the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, Virginia and Columbia class submarines, and unmanned aerial vehicles. They are also a critical part of commercial applications in the United States.

China is expected to hold 77% of rare earths elements refining in 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report this month, classifying the geopolitical risk in the supply of REE as ‘high’ due to the concentration of refining in one single country, China.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Lead image (Credit: Reuters)