‘The good news is that friendly nations like Canada, Australia, and India are naturally rich in rare earths’ Australia’s Vital Metals is getting ready to kick off mining operations at its Nechalacho rare earths project in Canada’s Northwest Territories, which will make it the country’s first producer of the elements used in magnets for electric vehicles, aerospace, defence and electronics. Credit: Vital Metals. The facts are nothing short of startling. A high-tech F-35 stealth fighter jet contains 920 lbs. of rare earth elements (REEs). Each US Navy Arleigh Burke-class AEGIS destroyer has 5,200 lbs., and a Virginia-class submarine has 9,200 lbs. These commodities are also key to the future of alternative energy, electric vehicles, mobile phones, and even headphones. Combine that with the fact that 80% of all American rare earth supplies come from China. A nation now run by leader, Xi Jinping, who recently ordered his Marine Corps — in an act of sheer madness, or, to...