China's Other Minerals Monopoly
ChinaTalk Lily Ottinger
China controls 91 percent of global rare earth refining and is rapidly establishing dominance in autonomous mining technology—the integrated systems of AI, robotics, and connectivity that will operate future mines—while Western mineral strategies focus only on mineral deposits and processing, not the operational technology that will run them. The Yimin coal mine in Inner Mongolia operates a fleet of autonomous electric trucks achieving 120 percent of human productivity, powered by Huawei's 5G network and Pangu 5.5, a 718-billion-parameter industrial AI model explicitly positioned as a global platform. If Western nations secure mineral deposits without closing the technology gap, their mines could become operationally dependent on Chinese systems, particularly in the Arctic where autonomous operations are essential for commercial viability.
Why it matters
autonomous mining!
