生成中...【新闻麻辣烫】
澳大利亚砸下10亿澳元豪赌稀土产业，誓要打破中国"稀土霸权"！西澳荒漠里埋着价值6.5亿美元的"土堆"，提炼后能造电动车、风力发电机，甚至战斗机。不过专家提醒：这活儿可不好干，处理放射性废料比挖矿难多了！中国网友淡定表示：我们练了三十年的功夫，岂是那么容易超越的？（友情提示：稀土虽好，环保更重要）
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**Inside Australia's billion-dollar bid to take on China's rare earth dominance**
**澳大利亚十亿澳元挑战中国稀土霸主地位内幕**
1 day ago Share Save Suranjana Tewari Asia Business Correspondent in Eneabba Share Save
1天前 分享 收藏 作者：亚洲商业记者Suranjana Tewari发自伊尼巴 分享 收藏
**Bloomberg via Getty Images Rare earths are essential in the production of alloys for magnets**
**彭博社/盖蒂图片社 稀土是生产磁铁合金的关键材料**
Drive three hours north of Perth, and you'll arrive in Eneabba - barren and desolate, just the odd hill in the distance. This is Western Australia mining territory. Buried in this vast terrain is a massive pit, full of what looks like mounds of worthless dirt. But appearances can be deceiving: this pit is home to a million-tonne stockpile containing critical minerals, better known as rare earths, which are crucial for making electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence equipment.
从珀斯向北驱车三小时抵达伊尼巴——这片荒凉的西澳矿区，看似不起眼的土堆下埋藏着百万吨级关键矿物（即稀土），这些制造电动车、风力发电机和国防装备的战略资源。
And Australia is betting big on this discovery with a billion dollar loan to a mining company to extract these metals - and disrupt a supply chain that China has monopolised. Will the gamble pay off?
澳大利亚豪掷10亿澳元贷款支持矿业公司开采，试图打破中国垄断的供应链。这场豪赌能成功吗？
**China's rare earth dominance**
**中国稀土统治地位**
China's chokehold on rare earths has hit home with US President Donald Trump's trade wars. When Beijing restricted exports, a powerful bargaining chip in tariff negotiations, it sent manufacturers around the world into their war rooms.
特朗普贸易战让世界意识到中国稀土的控制力——当北京限制出口时，全球制造商纷纷进入紧急状态。
China, they realised with alarm, had the power to stop their factories. Ford even halted production of its popular Explorer SUV for a week at one of its Chicago plants - a bold move while grappling with Trump's tariffs.
福特芝加哥工厂曾因稀土短缺停产Explorer SUV一周，CEO法利坦言供应链"朝不保夕"。
A month later, CEO Jim Farley revealed the pause was triggered by a shortage of rare earths, admitting the company was still struggling to secure reliable supply."It's day to day," Mr Farley told Bloomberg TV. Beijing has since agreed to let rare earth minerals and magnets flow to the United States, which eased the bottleneck. But without a US-China trade deal, the fear is that the disruption could return.
虽然中国恢复对美稀土出口缓解危机，但专家警告："西方自己搞砸了，中国却坚持长期投入"。
"The West dropped the ball – that's the reality. And China was in for the long run. It saw the benefit and was willing to invest in it," says Jacques Eksteen, chair for extractive metallurgy at Curtin University.
科廷大学教授埃克斯坦指出："西方错失良机，而中国着眼长远"。
**Why rare earths matter**
**稀土为何重要**
The phrase"rare earths" - referring to 17 elements on the periodic table which are lightweight, super strong and resistant to heat, making them useful in small electric motors - is something of a misnomer.
稀土（周期表上17种轻质耐热元素）其实并不稀有，黄金更稀缺但非关键材料。
"Rare earths are not rare or scarce. Gold is scarce, but it's not a critical material," Professor Eksteen explains. Rare earths are critical, however. Take the average electric vehicle – there might be rare earths-based motors in dozens of components from side mirrors and speakers to windscreen wipers and braking sensors.
每辆电动车数十个部件都含稀土电机，从后视镜到刹车传感器。
The problem is therefore not amount, but the fact"somewhere in the supply chain you've got one or maybe a few countries controlling that bottleneck", Professor Eksteen adds.
问题在于供应链瓶颈被少数国家控制——中国目前占据全球稀土开采量过半，加工量近90%。
**China's strategic control**
**中国的战略控制**
"China has since very deliberately and overtly sought to control the market for the purposes of supporting their downstream manufacturing and defence industries," says Dan McGrath, head of rare earths for Iluka Resources.
伊鲁卡资源公司稀土主管麦格拉思指出："中国明确通过控制市场支持其制造业和国防工业"。
But Mr McGrath, and Iluka, are hoping to make a dent in that control - even if it wasn't necessarily in the company's original plan.
这家原本开采锆石的公司，意外积累了价值6.5亿美元的镝、铽等稀土副产品库存。
**The refining challenge**
**提炼挑战**
For decades, Iluka has been mining zircon in Australia - a key ingredient in ceramics, and titanium dioxide used in the pigmentation of paint, plastics and paper. It just so happens the byproducts of these mineral sands include dysprosium and terbium - some of the most sought-after rare earths. Over the years, Iluka has built up the stockpile, and is now worth more than $650m (£440m).
但提炼才是真正挑战——稀土元素化学性质相似，分离需要复杂工序，还会产生放射性废料。
This was the easy part, however. The processing or refining is another matter altogether."They're chemically very similar so to try and separate them requires a huge number of stages," Professor Eksteen explained."Also, you've got residues and wastes that you have to deal with out of this industry, and that's problematic. They often produce radioactive materials. It comes at a cost."
为此澳大利亚政府提供16.5亿澳元贷款助其建设提炼厂，预计2030年可满足西方50-170%的稀土需求增长。
**Government backing**
**政府支持**
And that is one of the reasons the Australian government is loaning Iluka A$1.65bn ($1bn; £798m) to build a refinery to meet demand for rare earths which Iluka sees growing by 50-170% by the end of the decade."We expect to be able to supply a significant proportion of Western demand for rare earths by 2030. Our customers recognise that having an independent, secure and sustainable supply chain outside of China is fundamental for the continuity of their business," says Mr McGrath."This refinery and Iluka's commitment to the rare earth business is an alternative to China."
资源部长金认为这是战略必需："国际稀土自由市场是海市蜃楼，中国掌握着定价权和供应权"。
But the refinery will take another two years to build and come online."Without the strategic partnership we have with the Australian government, a rare earths project would not be economically viable," Mr McGrath says.
不过提炼厂还需两年建成，麦格拉思坦言："没有政府合作，稀土项目根本不经济"。
**Strategic necessity**
**战略必要性**
China's recent willingness to turn supply of rare earths on and off has spurred trading partners to diversify their suppliers. Iluka says because automakers for example plan their production years in advance, it is already fielding requests for when its refinery does come online.
中国"稀土开关"政策促使各国寻求供应多元化，车企已开始预订伊鲁卡未来产能。
Rare earths are critical to the green transition, electric vehicles, and defence technologies – making their control a pressing national priority."The open international market in critical minerals and rare earths is a mirage. It doesn't exist. And the reason it doesn't exist is because there is one supplier of these materials and they have the wherewithal to change where the market goes, whether that be in pricing or supply," Australia's resources minister Madeleine King says.
澳大利亚选择政府干预建立替代供应链，但必须面对稀土产业带来的污染问题。
Canberra sees government intervention as necessary to provide an alternative supply, and help the world rely less on China."We can either sit back and do nothing about that... or we can step up to take on the responsibility to develop a rare earths industry here that competes with that market," Ms King adds. But there is something that Australia will have to contend with as it invests and works to expand a rare earths industry – pollution.
批评人士指出中国稀土产业的环境代价，这将是澳大利亚必须应对的挑战。
**Getty Images Critics say China's environmental protections and regulations are weak**
**盖蒂图片社 批评人士称中国环保监管薄弱**
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Getty Images/BBC
盖蒂图片社/BBC
