TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said his ministry will send a team from the Geological Survey and Mining Management Agency to the US to study rare earth mining as part of efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese exports.
Taiwan lacks domestic rare earth resources and depends mainly on imports from China, with smaller amounts from the US and Japan, per CNA. These materials are critical to the tech, renewable energy, and defense sectors, including the production of EV motors, smartphones, wind turbines, fighter jets, and missiles.
Kung said the government will explore partnerships with countries that have rare earth resources to conduct mining and initial processing locally, then ship the materials to Taiwan for refining. The ministry will also evaluate US mines to determine whether their rare earths meet Taiwan’s industrial requirements in terms of type and quality.
In January, Kung led a delegation to the US for the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue. During the meeting, he signed the Joint Statement on the Pax Silica Declaration and US-Taiwan Cooperation on Economic Security.
The two countries will deepen collaboration on rare earth mining, refining, and resource exploration. They will also advance electronic waste recycling technologies to enhance the semiconductor and electronics supply chains.
With the continued growth of Taiwan’s electronics manufacturing and semiconductor foundry industries, the nation’s annual rare earth demand could approach 2,000 tonnes, Kung noted. He added that the government aims to meet half of domestic demand by securing stable imports of rare earths and refining them in Taiwan.
Kung said that Taiwan has strong mineral refining and recycling technologies. The ministry has supported the Industrial Technology Research Institute in developing these technologies and plans to finish a production line within three years.
ITRI added that it is focusing on refining neodymium and dysprosium, the rare earth elements used in making EV motors, wind turbines, and computer equipment.
The ministry is also launching rare earth extraction from electronic waste. ITRI said that traditional rare earth refining produces significant pollution, so it is integrating wastewater and acid recycling techniques to make the process cleaner and cut chemical use.
