The history of humanity is the history of energy transition.
Coal in the 19th century, oil in the 20th century, and rare metals in the 21st century

Rare metals, often called the "next-generation oil," are at the heart of the eco-friendly capitalism that the world is pursuing.
Because it is an energy source that can replace oil and coal to achieve carbon neutrality, and is an essential strategic resource for high-tech industries and military weapons.
In the age of carbon neutrality, what resources does the world depend on now?
How is a Green New Deal possible?
What is the reality of the global trade war and territorial disputes?
The energy transition is now a global task, and China monopolizes the production of most of the rare earth metals that are key to its success.
What does this mean and what changes will it bring?
What are the environmental, economic, and geopolitical costs of our dependence on rare metals?
To answer these questions, the author and his research team spent six years reporting directly from the field in 12 countries.
From China's rare earth Silicon Valley to America's largest mining region and the Bafokeng Kingdom deep in the forests of West Africa, I have been in the heart of the rare metals war, and this book documents the process of my fierce field investigation.

The United States has been addressing the rare metals issue from a national security perspective for the past two years.
Every time China made a threat, the American military had no choice but to shrink.
Because manufacturing smart missiles, Abrams tanks, and F-35 stealth fighters uses huge amounts of rare metals.
Therefore, the trade war with China was soon a matter directly related to America's national security.

--- p.10, from “Presenting the Revised Edition”

Energy transition and digital transformation require launching numerous satellites high into the sky.
This requires a launch vehicle to launch the satellite into space, as well as a massive number of computers to determine the proper orbit, transmit the appropriate waves, and encrypt the communications of digital devices.
Of course, a supercomputer division capable of analyzing the exploding data must also be mobilized.
To transmit information in real time, we need a global network of submarine cables, a densely connected terrestrial and underground power grid, millions of information processing terminals, countless data storage centers, billions of tablet PCs, smartphones, and all kinds of IoT devices, batteries, and chargers.
To achieve dematerialization, one must endure such a huge physical impact.
So the so-called happy advance into the era of dematerialization is nothing but a deception.
To create this massive beast called the digital Leviathan, we need, paradoxically, power plants burning coal, oil, and natural gas, nuclear power plants, wind power plants, and solar power plants, as well as intelligent networks.
And to build all this infrastructure, we need rare metals.
--- p.69, from “The Materiality of Invisible Things”

But while China, Congo, and Kazakhstan were devastated by irresponsible mining, what were Western countries like the United States and Europe doing? Is it truly the fault of China, Congo, and Kazakhstan alone that things have come to this point? No, we must ask again.
Are the United States and Europe truly qualified to criticize China, the Congo, or Kazakhstan? Who entrusted these countries with mining metals in harsh environments, knowing full well they would destroy the environment?
--- p.84, from “The Illusion of a New Age of Abundance”

The Chinese government launched a massive trade scheme to shift the center of its mining production from the West to the East, a strategy it continues to employ today.
China's strategy can be summarized in one word: 'dumping.'
It is economic dumping because the cost of production has been drastically reduced, and it is environmental dumping because the cost of pollution prevention has not been covered.
In 2002, the average price of one kilogram of rare earth elements produced in China was $2.80, which was twice as low as in the United States.
While the West stood by, China swept the rare metals market.
“Europe and the United States were well aware of the high cost of obtaining rare earths without polluting the environment,” asserts a French expert.
“And we also knew that China was mining rare earths while destroying their environment.
But I chose to pretend not to know.”
--- p.90~91, from “When the United States Dominated the Rare Earth Market”

Manufacturers facing rare earth supply problems have been forced to choose between two undesirable paths.
The options were to either maintain the factory in place, enduring unstable raw material supplies and slow operating speeds, or move the factory to China in exchange for unlimited raw material supplies.
Japan did not struggle long with this dilemma.
“Japan, starved for raw materials, quickly left for China, taking their valuable technology with them,” said one British analyst.
(…) Until the late 1990s, Japan, the United States, and Europe controlled 90 percent of the magnet market, but now China accounts for three-quarters of global magnet production.
In short, China, which had a monopoly on mineral production, secured a monopoly on mineral processing technology by threatening to “give up the technology if you want the resources.”
--- p.140, from “The West’s Deindustrialization Odyssey”

“The authoritarian capitalism that China has achieved will be a very encouraging phenomenon for other dictatorships,” analyzed an Indian university professor.
Because it has proven that it can guarantee both robust economic growth and political stability.
Therefore, in the future, emerging countries may seek to model themselves after the 'Beijing Consensus', or China's economic development model.
The Beijing consensus directly contradicts the Washington consensus, which asserts that economic development and democratic progress are inextricably linked.
Therefore, the argument that the rare metals war and the green industry jobs war are ideological conflicts between China and the West is indeed valid.
--- p.169, from “The Smile of Authoritarian Capitalism”

Our research team gave Jean-Yves Dumusot a small camera and asked him to take videos of the inside of the factory.
(…) “China now makes electric cars, luminescent materials, and even wind turbines.
“We have to assume that they have taken control of the entire value chain,” our insider continued.
“Furthermore, according to the enthusiastic promotion by Seon Yong-geo, Baotou produces 10,000 tons of abrasive materials, 1,000 tons of catalyst minerals, and 300 tons of luminescent materials.” Baotou is no longer introduced as a dirty mining area.
China prefers the term "rare earth Silicon Valley."
--- p.143, from “In Search of the Silicon Valley of Rare Earth Elements”

Indonesia, which accounts for 34 percent of global tin production, is the world's leading exporter of this "high-tech mineral." Since 2014, Indonesia has prohibited the export of any minerals mined from its soil (whether sand, nickel, or diamonds) in their original state.
The Indonesian government explained the reason as, 'Because we will refine the minerals and sell them as finished products.'
As the Chinese case has shown, these policies have proven to be a brilliant strategy for generating enormous wealth.
Calculations show that if value added were preserved in this way, Indonesia's profits could increase fourfold for iron, sevenfold for tin and copper, even eighteenfold for bauxite, and twentyfold for nickel.
--- p.149, from “Mining Visions for Indonesia and Africa”

In 2017, US-based MP Materials acquired Mountain Pass after China's Chinalco Group expressed interest in acquiring the mine in California.
However, part of MP Materials' shares were held by Shenghe Resources Holdings, a Chinese mining company.43 China is also a prominent investor in other competing companies.
Shenghe Resources Holdings is the majority shareholder of Greenland's Kvanefield mine, which is rich in uranium and rare earth minerals.
Wouldn't this be a brilliant strategy and a brilliant way to prevent the emergence of a deadly competitor?
--- p.209, from “Mining Fronts Growing Like Bamboo Shoots After a Rain”

The world is waking up to the fact that the oceans, which cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface, are not just liquid deserts teeming with fish.
We are discovering that there is immense potential in the so-called 'blue economy', or ocean-based economic activities.
The battle over rare earths (and the energy transition and digital transformation) is now fought not only on land but also at sea.
A new mining boom will hit.
Canadian company Nautilus is gearing up for mineral exploration in the waters off Papua New Guinea and has secured about 20 submarine sites for future operations.
Unable to stand idly by while other countries are busy, China has designed a submersible capable of exploring the ocean floor at record depths.

--- p.221, from “Countries Embarking on the Conquest of the Blue Economy”