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00:00We're going to stop that ridiculous war.
00:04Very talented guy.
00:06We have very talented people working for us.
00:11So we're looking to do a deal with Ukraine,
00:14where they're going to secure what we're giving them
00:17with their rare earth and other things.
00:30Trump wants rare earths because the American economy
00:34is highly dependent on Chinese sources
00:37and it's an economic and national security risk.
00:40So, reason number one.
00:43Reason number two is that there are not so many
00:46American companies who are able to mine and produce
00:51rare earths within the US. Reason number two.
00:54And reason number three is that, I mean, there is Ukraine
00:57and we have these commodities right there.
01:00And in order to avoid that the Chinese will take over
01:04Ukrainian rare earth commodities and build up potential mines there,
01:09it's an option for the Americans.
01:12And reason number four is to make the Ukrainians pay
01:16for the American military support.
01:19So you see a couple of reasons why Trump wants them.
01:25But again, we have to wait. What does it really mean on the ground?
01:56Rare earth elements are not actually rare.
01:59They've held on to that name since the late 1700s.
02:03They're used in all manner of electronics, technologies
02:08and high performance alloys.
02:10They're often described as the vitamins or the spice of industry
02:15because they have over the past several decades,
02:18they've enabled through advances in material science
02:21our technologies to get smaller and faster and stronger
02:24and more resilient.
02:51Now, because the term rare earth elements refers
03:20to 17 chemically similar elements that are one right next to the other
03:24on the periodic table, that means they're actually very difficult
03:27to break apart, to separate so that you can have a higher concentration
03:33pure form of praseodymium or neodymium, for example,
03:36which are two elements that are used in high powered magnets
03:39that are used in everything from maglev trains to wind turbines to missiles.
03:43So it's really because of the challenges, the heavy energy
03:48and resource and pollution risks that are associated
03:52with refining rare earth elements that production has concentrated
03:56historically in so few places.
04:13Couple of issues.
04:15First of all, our knowledge base on the Ukrainian resources,
04:20rare earths, titanium, manganese and others is not sufficient.
04:25So we need more information about the commodities
04:28which are located in Ukraine first.
04:31Second, a huge problem for the US is that there are not so many
04:36American companies who are able to mine and to process
04:41these rare earth elements because since almost two decades
04:47Chinese companies dominate this sector.
04:50So it's easy to say on a political level, let's get these critical elements
04:55from Ukraine, but on a practical level, it's not so far clear
04:59which companies, Americans, British or German or whatever companies
05:03will be able to do this right now when the war continues.
05:11Because even though the global rare earth supply continues
05:22to be relatively stable with a few exceptions,
05:25rare earth elements because of their strategic significance
05:29do unfortunately tend to feature in broader geopolitical disputes.
05:34And so the elements that are under question with respect
05:39to Ukraine are currently located in areas that are Russia-controlled.
05:46And so gaining or regaining access to those deposits,
05:52not only for the US, for Ukraine and Western allies,
05:56is something that has larger geopolitical significance.
06:09We know so far that Greenland is also very rich,
06:31but still mining hasn't started because the government
06:38is very hesitant about this and sees not only economic potentials
06:43but also risks for their environment there.
06:47But it's a similar discussion like in Ukraine, but without war.
06:52Main question is who will be first to get access and mine
06:57these critical elements, especially rare earths,
07:00also uranium and a couple of other elements.