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The United States is stepping up rare-earth mining efforts in Africa while expanding strategic cooperation with the European Union and Australia, aiming to reduce dependence on Chinese supply of essential minerals.
At an old chemical processing plant in South Africa, the Phalaborwa project is under way, backed by the US. The initiative is designed to produce rare earths from large industrial waste dumps at the Phalaborwa site.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is investing $50 million in the project. DFC was established during President Donald Trump’s first term and pledged to invest in Phalaborwa in 2023 under former President Joe Biden. After Trump returned to the White House in February 2025 and signed an order halting all financial support for South Africa, the administration still prioritized continuing the rare-earth project due to its urgency.
Rainbow Rare Earths, the project developer, expects to begin mining in 2028 and operate for 16 years. The company estimates the industrial waste dump contains about 35 million tonnes of phosphogypsum, a mining and processing by-product that can separate rare earth elements.
Rainbow Rare Earths plans to refine elements including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. These are used in high-performance magnets for wind turbines, electric vehicles, robotics and defense. CEO George Bennett said most of the output will be prioritized for the US market.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metallic elements with strong magnetism and luminescence, and high chemical activity. They are used across critical sectors including energy, electronics and defense. While reserves exist, rare earths are often dispersed and difficult to separate, which can make mining expensive.
Rainbow says the Phalaborwa project will run on 90% renewable energy and be “considerably cheaper” than traditional rare-earth mining, which it says would help it compete on price with Chinese producers.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence researcher Neha Mukherjee described the Phalaborwa process as “unique and experimental.” She said the project’s advantage is low capital expenditure by leveraging waste dumps and improving supply outside China, but noted that commercial-scale feasibility will take time to prove.
President Trump has treated strategic mineral self-sufficiency—especially rare earths—as a core policy goal to counter Beijing. This year, the White House allocated nearly $12 billion to build stockpiles.
Beyond South Africa, the US Trade and Development Agency signed a $1.8 million grant in February for a feasibility study of the Monte Muambe rare-earth project in Mozambique.
The administration also continued financial support for the Lobito Corridor, a Biden-era initiative to build a 1,290 km railway linking mineral-rich regions of the Congo and Zambia to the Atlantic coast.
Patience Mususa, a mining expert at the Nordic Africa Institute, said the US is “trying to catch up in mining investment” in Africa, where China dominates.
Chinese customs data cited in the report showed that in March, China’s rare-earth magnet exports reached 5,238 tonnes. That was down 1.6% year-on-year but up 10.5% from the previous month.
The US was the fourth-largest customer, buying 406 tonnes—down 9.5% from February and 30.6% lower than a year earlier. In the first quarter, rare-earth magnet exports topped 16,000 tonnes, up 4.8%.
In parallel, a new wave of efforts has been pursued since early April. Bloomberg reported that the European Union (EU) and the US are nearing a rare-earth agreement.
Under the reported deal, the two sides would cooperate on standards, investment and joint projects, and increase coordination in the event of supply disruptions from China. The agreement is expected to cover the full mineral value chain, from exploration and mining to processing, refining, recycling and recovery.
Last month, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic met US Trade Representative Jamie Greer on the margins of the WTO ministerial conference in Cameroon, where they agreed to advance cooperation on critical minerals.
On April 19, Australia and the US announced a commitment to invest $3.5 billion, nearly doubling the amount promised when they signed their cooperation agreement six months earlier. The funding is intended to support refining projects for essential metals in Australia, serving defense, high-tech and energy-transition sectors.
Australian Resources Minister Madeleine King said the two countries are implementing the commitments announced at the White House, with projects prioritizing support for rare-earth and other critical minerals production.
Separately, on April 20, USA Rare Earth announced it would acquire the Serra Verde rare-earth mining company in Brazil for $2.8 billion in cash and stock. The deal is expected to close in Q3, with $300 million in cash and the issuance of 126.9 million new shares.
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