Planet Money – "Battlefield Rare Earths: How the U.S. Lost to China"

Date: April 24, 2026
Host: Kenny Malone, with co-host/reporter Emily Feng
Guests: Mark Smith (former Molycorp CEO), Prof. Rod Eggert (Colorado School of Mines)

Overview

This episode explores the history, economics, and geopolitics of “rare earth” minerals—critical to everything from iPhones to fighter jets—and charts how the U.S. lost dominance in this crucial industry to China. Through interviews, storytelling, and a trip down economic memory lane, Planet Money breaks down how a once-booming American mine enabled America’s rise, lost its edge partly by accident, and why the U.S. government is now scrambling to catch up in a world where China dominates the supply chain.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. The Accidental Discovery of America’s Rare Earths (00:01–03:35)

• Setting the Scene: The story starts in 1949 in the California desert, where prospectors searching for uranium stumble onto a huge deposit of previously little-known rare earth elements at the site that would become Mountain Pass mine.
  • Quote:
    "They had stumbled onto a huge deposit of what we now know as rare earths. Obscure metals with hard to pronounce names tucked down at the bottom of the periodic table." – Kenny Malone (01:09)
• What Are Rare Earths? Elements with names like lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and europium. At discovery, they had “basically no commercial use.”

2. Mountain Pass and U.S. Dominance (03:36–07:02)

• Growth of an Industry: By the 1960s, Mountain Pass is running full steam, spearheaded by Molycorp. Key application: europium from Mountain Pass produces the red color in color TVs, leading to a virtual monopoly.
  • Quote:
    "For a period of time, every single colored television that was made in the world had europium from the Mountain Pass deposit used to make that red color." – Mark Smith (06:18)

3. The Downfall: How China Learned the Ropes (07:03–11:10)

• Competition Emerges: By the late 1980s, Molycorp faces unsold stockpiles, signaling that buyers are turning elsewhere—chiefly, to China.
• The Fateful Tour: In the 1960s, the CEO of Molycorp hosts Chinese delegates, offering them unprecedented access. They take photos and notes, laying the groundwork for China’s future rise.
  • Quote:
    "They took all that information back and...became, you know, what is today the world’s best processors of rare earth materials." – Mark Smith (09:24)
• Why Was This Allowed? At the time, China was not yet an economic powerhouse, and Molycorp did not see it as a threat.

4. How and Why China Took Over (11:11–17:58)

• Building a Rare Earths Behemoth:
  Prof. Rod Eggert and Emily Fang detail China's strategy, which wasn’t a laser-focus on rare earths but part of a larger plan to make China the world’s manufacturing hub.
  • China creates a "Rare Earth office" (just a few bureaucrats, not a glittering sci-fi laboratory).
  • Early industry: "dirty, unregulated, backyard" mining.
  • Through the 1990s, China implements policies—cheap loans, price support, export restrictions—to win the entire supply chain.
  • China enforces domestic ore processing (can’t export raw ore), requires foreign firms to set up processing in China, consolidates companies into state-owned giants.
  • Quote:
    "As the industry matures, Beijing starts to tend its overnight industry a bit more...It consolidates the industry into just a handful of state owned or state backed companies." – Kenny Malone (16:27)
• Molycorp Collapses: Unable to compete, Mountain Pass shuts down; China controls ~90% of global rare earths supply.

5. The Wake-Up Call: Geopolitics and Leverage (17:59–21:44)

• The 2010 "Fishing Boat Incident":
  • China halts rare earth exports to Japan after a territorial spat, paralyzing Japanese high-tech and auto industries, and spooking the world.
    • Quote:
      "China informally, quietly just stopped selling all rare earth products to Japan." – Emily Fang (19:55)
• Rare Earth Prices Skyrocket:
  • Prices jump 600–700%, exposing global dependence on China for rare earths.
    • Quote:
      "We've seen prices jump about 600 to 700% for these rare earth minerals." – Emily Fang (21:44)

6. Molycorp Rises Again...and Falls, Again (21:45–26:38)

• Project Phoenix:
  • Mark Smith (now CEO) reopens Mountain Pass, launches ambitious “Project Phoenix,” betting big as prices surge.
• China’s Response:
  • When Molycorp plans to double capacity, China floods markets with cheap rare earths. Prices collapse; “Phoenix flies too close to the sun.”
    • Quote:
      "They sent a very strong message. You are not going to produce that much rare earths in today's market." – Mark Smith (25:44)
• End Result:
  • Molycorp bankrupt again, reinforcing that China’s dominance is not just about geology but about market power and state coordination.

7. Lessons and the Next Chapter (26:39–33:50)

• Mark Smith: Cassandra on Rare Earths:
  • For years, he tries to warn U.S. policymakers about the risk of dependence on China.
    • Quote:
      "I was certainly one of few who understood what that could ultimately mean if they wanted to use it as a political card." – Mark Smith (27:10)
• U.S. Policy Catching Up (2025–2026):
  • After renewed trade tensions and a 2025 rare earths squeeze by China in response to U.S. tariffs, the U.S. government massively increases support for its own rare earths sector.
    • Investments: grants, loans, direct stakes in mining companies, efforts to coordinate global price floors with allies.
    • The government even takes a stake in American rare earths companies—mimicking elements of China’s industrial policy.
• Present Day (2026):
  • Mark is now at NioCorp (Nebraska), working closely with the U.S. government, which he now sees as “not a bad equity partner.”
  • Quote:
    "I can't think of a better equity partner to have in a company like that than the U.S. government because now you have wherewithal if projects go awry." – Mark Smith (31:57)
  • Emily cautions: it will take 5–10 years for U.S. production to reach stability.

8. The Irony at Mountain Pass (32:41–33:50)

• The Mine’s Latest Twist:
  • The Mountain Pass mine is bought by MP Materials, which is partly owned by a Chinese state firm—and more recently, the U.S. Department of Defense acquires a 15% stake. Refining is moving back to the U.S.
    • Quote:
      "So yes, the Mountain Pass Rare Earths mine, now partly owned by a state backed Chinese company and the government of the United States of America. Shareholder meetings gonna be fascinating." – Kenny Malone (33:50)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• "Lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium. There was this one element called europium..." – Mark Smith (01:20)
• "It looks bad now, but Molly Corp...had invited in a very different, much less powerful China." – Emily Fang (10:09)
• "Today much of the world’s expertise with respect to rare earths resides in China." – Prof. Rod Eggert (15:13)
• "Mollycorp actually shut down its Mountain Pass operation." – Mark Smith (18:04)
• "China has a lot of territorial disputes with many of its neighbors, including Japan...and most notably, China informally, quietly just stopped selling all rare earth products to Japan." – Emily Fang (19:50)
• "You shall pass." – Emily Fang riffing on Tolkien, on reopening Mountain Pass mine (22:44)
• "Do you think we can double it [capacity]? – Yes, absolutely." – Mark Smith (24:41)
• "I think about that almost every day of my life, Kenny...I should have been satisfied with phase one." – Mark Smith (24:55)
• "Shareholder meetings gonna be fascinating." – Kenny Malone (33:50)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Event | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:41 | Discovery of rare earths at Mountain Pass | | 03:08 | Mountain Pass becomes the world leader in rare earths mining | | 06:18 | Europium from Mountain Pass in every color TV | | 09:24 | Chinese delegation tours Molycorp in the 1960s | | 11:53 | Prof. Eggert on China's early policy ambitions | | 14:40 | Chinese government loans/industrial policy strategies | | 16:27 | China consolidates industry into state-owned entities | | 18:04 | Mountain Pass shuts down | | 19:55 | China’s informal export ban on Japan ("fishing boat incident," 2010) | | 21:44 | Rare earth prices skyrocket by 600-700% | | 22:44 | "You shall pass" – Reopening of Mountain Pass (Project Phoenix) | | 25:44 | China “floods the market” in retaliation for U.S. expansion | | 27:10 | Mark Smith as Cassandra – warning about dependence on China | | 29:00 | U.S. imposes tariffs; China responds by limiting exports (2025 "Liberation Day") | | 31:02 | Mark at NioCorp, working with the U.S. Government | | 33:21 | Mountain Pass now partly owned by both China and U.S. government |

Tone & Style

Casual, humorous, slightly incredulous, with a flair for pop culture references. Hosts and guests explain both the chemistry and high-stakes geopolitics in accessible language.

Conclusion

“Battlefield Rare Earths” traces the arc of American dominance, hubris, and unexpected partnership with China in an industry at the heart of 21st-century technology and power. With new policy interventions, the U.S. is trying to reclaim ground in rare earths, but the tangled economic and geopolitical legacy means that the story is far from over.

For more:
Listen to the full episode for in-depth interviews, personal stories, and the latest updates on American efforts to “rise from the ashes” in the rare earths industry.