Trident Global Holdings, headquartered in South Korea, has reportedly secured the rights to three rare earth mines in Vietnam. The company will work with Vietnam’s Hung Hai Group, which currently already has the rights to three mines in northern Vietnam. Hung Hai will handle the mining and Trident will be in charge of processing the minerals extracted, according to a press release.
This announcement seems like a positive step forward but there seems to be a lot of moving parts when it comes to rare earth mining in Vietnam and this press release seems a little too clean-cut. For example, there were a few high-profile arrests last year in the mining sector related to the rare earth reserves in northern Vietnam and several foreign firms have made similar partnership announcements in the past that have not as yet materialised in much. In this context, this announcement should be considered with a degree of caution.
See also: Vietnam’s Rare Earth Partnership Contenders: Unpacked