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Korea, US partnership on rare earths to boost industry in Vietnam

South Korea’s Trident Global Holdings and US firm Zoetic Global have announced they are partnering-up to develop several rare earth mines in northern Vietnam. This will be done in collaboration with Vietnam’s Hung Hai Group which owns three mines already.

Of note, the US Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 estimated Vietnam’s rare earth reserves to be in the vicinity of 22 million tons. China, which has the largest reserves, for comparison, is estimated to have double that at 44 million tons, and Brazil which comes in third place has roughly 21 million tons.

But having all of these reserves is one thing, getting them out of the ground is quite another. Vietnam was estimated to have extracted just 1,200 tons in 2022 and just 600 tons in 2023 after several key figures in the rare earth mining industry were arrested for alleged tax evasion.

That said, there has been a lot of interest from outside of Vietnam in getting the industry moving again. This latest announcement suggests Korea and the US are leading the charge, however, there are a number of other players vying for a piece of the action. 

See also: Vietnam’s Rare Earth Partnership Contenders: Unpacked

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