The minerals that almost nobody knows… but everyone needs. In the spring of 2025, several European car manufacturers began to worry. Essential components needed to keep producing vehicles were at risk of no longer arriving. It was not a new oil crisis. Nor was it a semiconductor shortage. The source of the problem was a group of minerals that are virtually unknown to the general public but have quietly become one of the most powerful geopolitical weapons of the 21st century.

A few days later, China announced new export restrictions on certain rare earths and permanent magnets. The news made headlines in specialist media, but for many people it went largely unnoticed. Yet the move exposed an uncomfortable reality: much of the technology we use every day depends on materials that are, to a great extent, controlled by a single country.

A hundred years ago, global power was measured in barrels of oil. Today, it is increasingly measured in kilograms of minerals.

They are not rare. What is truly exceptional is knowing how to process them

The name is probably the first great misconception. Rare earths are not particularly scarce. Some of their seventeen chemical elements are actually more abundant in the Earth’s crust than copper. The problem is that they are rarely found concentrated in one place. Instead, they are scattered among other minerals, and separating them requires highly complex, expensive chemical processes with a significant environmental impact.

For years, Europe and the United States reached what seemed like a logical conclusion: importing these materials was cheaper than producing them. Mines gradually closed, many refining plants disappeared, and the industry steadily moved to Asia. Meanwhile, China was doing exactly the opposite.

Without attracting much attention, it invested in mines, refining technologies, chemical processing plants and the manufacture of the components that major Western companies would later buy. While others focused on cutting costs in the short term, Beijing was building an industrial strategy that now gives it an advantage that is extremely difficult to replicate. And this is where the great paradox that explains this entire story emerges. The most valuable resource is not the mineral itself. It is the knowledge required to transform it.

The mine is only the beginning of the story

When we think of a raw material, we usually picture an excavator digging rocks out of a mountainside. But in the case of rare earths, that is only the opening scene of a much longer story.

Next comes refining, where the seventeen chemical elements are separated one by one. They are then transformed into specialised alloys and, later, into extraordinary permanent magnets capable of generating enormous power while taking up very little space. Only then do they reach the factories that manufacture electric motors, industrial robots, wind turbines, satellites and mobile phones.

When you unlock your smartphone with facial recognition, listen to music through wireless earbuds or use an artificial intelligence tool, you probably never think about it. Yet behind these everyday actions lies an industrial supply chain that begins in a mine located thousands of kilometres away. It is an invisible reality. And that is precisely why it is so easy to forget.

The tiny elements powering the world’s biggest technologies

Very few raw materials are as discreet and yet as indispensable as rare earths.

Neodymium makes it possible to manufacture the magnets used in electric vehicle motors. Dysprosium ensures those magnets retain their performance at extremely high temperatures. Europium is used in displays and lighting systems, while lanthanum is found in batteries, cameras and optical components.

Without these materials, many modern wind turbines, advanced medical equipment, satellites, lasers, radar systems and defence technologies simply would not exist.

The figures help put their importance into perspective. An electric vehicle requires several times more rare earths than a conventional car, while a single offshore wind turbine can contain hundreds of kilograms of magnets made from these materials. Even the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft depend on them.

Artificial intelligence, which we often think of as being purely about software, also begins here. The data centres that train models such as ChatGPT require thousands of processors, electronic components and cooling systems built through an industrial supply chain in which rare earths play an essential role.

Algorithms do not emerge out of nowhere. Before algorithms comes industry. And before industry come the minerals.

China understood the game before anyone else

For decades, the Western world looked the other way. Producing rare earths was expensive, environmentally damaging and attracted little political interest. China, however, saw them as a strategic opportunity.

Today, it is not only one of the world’s leading producers. Its greatest advantage is that it controls much of the global refining capacity and the manufacturing of the permanent magnets used by companies around the world. This dominance allows China to influence industries as diverse as automotive manufacturing, renewable energy, defence and consumer electronics.

When Beijing announces export restrictions, markets react because they know replacing this industrial capacity is not a matter of months, but most likely years. The West has discovered that outsourcing an industry for thirty years is far easier than rebuilding it.

The new war is no longer fought only over oil

This is why the United States, Canada, Australia, the European Union and other countries are accelerating mining projects, investing in new refining facilities and seeking agreements with strategic partners. Investment in recycling is also increasing, as the electronic devices we discard today could become an important source of critical materials tomorrow.

The challenge is no longer simply about manufacturing more electric cars or more wind turbines. It is about deciding who will control the industries of the future. That is why rare earths are no longer merely a geological issue, they have become a matter of national security.

Why does all this affect your savings?

Major geopolitical shifts eventually reach the everyday economy. When tensions arise in the supply of critical minerals, manufacturers face higher costs, industrial projects are delayed and companies are forced to revise their forecasts. Ultimately, these disruptions can be reflected in financial markets, inflation and the prices of the products we buy.

Understanding this dependence does not mean you should invest in rare earths. It means gaining a better understanding of why technology companies, car manufacturers and industrial groups react so strongly to political decisions that, at first glance, seem to take place on the other side of the world. Natural resources continue to shape the global economy. The only thing that has changed is which resources have become the most valuable.

The future is also mined from the earth

During the 20th century, oil largely determined the fate of economies and international conflicts. In the 21st century, that influence is increasingly shared by far less familiar, yet equally indispensable, resources. Without rare earths there would be no electric vehicles, no wind turbines, no industrial robots, no satellites and no artificial intelligence.

The next time you unlock your smartphone, listen to music through wireless earbuds or ask an AI for an answer, remember that behind that technology lies a supply chain that begins in a mine, continues in a refining plant thousands of kilometres away and ultimately helps shape the global economy.

Algorithms may seem to be the engine of the future. But without these seventeen chemical elements, the future simply would not start.

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