The reddish lands of southern China conceal a latent power: an immense reserve of rare earths relentlessly explored by a strategic industry that operates in secrecy and under strict surveillance.
The hills of Jiangxi province are home to most of China’s rare earths, used in everything from smartphones to guided missile technology.
AFP journalists visited the region in November, accompanied by companions who refused to identify themselves. The operating companies did not agree to interviews.
The activity is booming: rare earth processing sites in China increased from 117 in 2010 to 2,057 in 2017, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS currently records 3,085 points across China, mostly in the Jiangxi hills.
One of the mines operates almost without interruption, according to local residents.
“It is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said a resident of Banshi village.
The intense mining activity is the result of decades of efforts by Beijing to strengthen its position in this strategic sector.
China reached a temporary truce in its trade war with the United States this year by easing its strict controls on rare earth exports.
Washington is now exploring alternatives for its supply chains in a bid to reduce its dependence on China, but experts warn this will take years.
A sign of concern in the West is that the European Union has announced measures to reduce its dependence on China for the supply of these raw materials.
The bloc announced nearly 3 billion euros (19.6 billion reais) to support projects to extract, refine and recycle vital materials, and proposed the creation of a European supply center.
HEAVY RARE EARTHS
“The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths,” declared Deng Xiaoping, then Chinese president, in 1992.
Since then, the country has taken advantage of its natural reserves to master transformation and innovation in this area.
China’s rare earth industry is concentrated in two centers.
One of them is Bayan Obo, in the Inner Mongolia region, on the edge of the Gobi Desert, rich in “soft” rare earths used in magnets and everyday products.
The other center, adjacent to the city of Ganzhou in Jiangxi province, specializes in “heavy” rare earths, which are harder to extract but more valuable for use in heat-resistant magnets, fighter jet engines, guided missile systems and lasers.
The steep hills around Ganzhou are home to the world’s largest mining and processing operations for strategic “heavy” elements such as dysprosium, yttrium and terbium.
An AFP team in Longnan observed rows of rare earth processing factories in an industrial zone adjacent to these extraction sites.
“MOUNTAINS IN MOTION”
Heavy rare earths form over millions of years when rain erodes igneous rocks, breaking them down and leaving the elements concentrated near the surface.
Jiangxi’s hills, abundant rainfall and natural rocks make it a privileged place for the formation of these chemical elements.
Authorities have criticized destructive forms of extraction and are fighting against previously used methods, which they describe as “chaotic.”
One such practice, known as “mountain moving,” was labeled in 2015 by China’s industrial and technology regulator as a method “causing irreparable harm.”
Over time, unlicensed mining has been significantly reduced.
In rural areas, signs warn against illegal mining of rare earths. Others offer rewards for reporting such actions.
The industry consolidated into two large public companies.
On a street in Ganzhou nicknamed “Rare Earth Avenue”, the headquarters of one of these giants, China Rare Earth Group, is under construction.
But the province’s hills still bear the scars of ancient mining practices, with gaping veins of red earth among the vegetation trying to regrow.
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