Reportedly, the "SG4" states (the opposition-led alliance of Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, and Perlis) collectively control approximately 70% of Malaysia's total REE resources.
Despite being outside the SG4 economic bloc, Negeri Sembilan is also recognized alongside states like Perak and Pahang as having massive, commercially viable deposits.
Having Rare Earth Element (REE) reserves is merely a lottery ticket.
Extracting, refining, and commercializing them is the actual heavy lifting.
REE are not actually "rare" geologically, but the capability to isolate and separate from their composite ores is incredibly difficult.
KEY to REE - the capability to industrialise them.
Many nations e.g China, Vietnam, Brazil, Australia, and India sit on massive reserves of deposits, but realizing their value requires overcoming a brutal combination of chemical complexity, environmental liabilities, and geopolitical monopolies.
Today, China controls roughly 60% of global REE mining, 91% of refining and separation capacity, and 94% of the production of sintered permanent magnets—the crucial component driving electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced military hardware.
China has built over 40 specialized rare earth research laboratories and at least 11 universities with dedicated degree programs in rare earth science.
This creates a tightly fused ecosystem where more than 500 specialized graduates annually step directly out of the classroom and into state-owned refineries already possessing advanced process knowledge.
This allows China to built a complete, fully integrated value chain from the mine to the final consumer product and not just exporting raw minerals.
It is likely that REEs will follow the path of oil.
REEs apparently are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust but the world is experiencing severe structural bottlenecks and politically driven crunches.
The "shortage" is a artificial, localized crisis born out of concentrated supply lines—one that is currently forcing the rest of the world to build its own independent infrastructure/
Just as the fear of "Peak Oil" and reliance on OPEC drove the U.S. to unlock massive shale reserves through hydraulic fracturing, a similar structural shift is currently happening in the REE sector.
The real bottleneck for REEs has never been finding them in the ground but rather the highly toxic, complex chemical separation process.
The REE market is undergoing its own "shale revolution," presently.
The intense panic over its man made shortages is forcing the industry to innovate its way out of the crisis.
By supply diversification and technological breakthroughs.
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