

The Pentagon needed rare earths—and found a supplier in Malaysia
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.KUANTAN, Malaysia—The Pentagon’s push to get its hands on the rarest of the rare-earth elements leads all the way to this small port city in Malaysia.Here, Lynas Rare Earths, an Australian company, has begun pumping out heavy rare earths, the elusive kind that China dominates.“No one had made a separated heavy rare earth outside of China in 20 years,” said Amanda Lacaze, Lynas’s chief executive. The company’s chief operating officer, Pol Le Roux, said it had actually been 30 years.When China cut off exports of heavy rare-earth elements during trade tensions last year, automobile factories in the U.S.
and Europe were forced to stop production. Now, Lynas is at the vanguard of an effort by the U.S.
and allies to prevent Beijing from using its monopoly power to squeeze the rest of the world.The Pentagon is opening its wallet in unusual ways to ensure supplies. In March 2026, Lynas announced a preliminary $96 million deal in which the Pentagon would purchase Lynas’s rare earths.And Las Vegas-headquartered MP Materials, backed by billions of dollars in U.S.
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