Name: 稀土巨頭挑戰中國！美國公司如何打破壟斷？｜60分鐘 (The American rare earths company seeking to topple China's dominance | 60 Minutes)
Uploaded: 2026-03-23T21:37:23.000Z
Duration: 13 min 6 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

Last week, President Trump postponed a summit with his Chinese counterpart on account of the war with Iran.

上週，川普總統因為伊朗戰爭而推遲了與中國對口官員的峰會。

When Trump and Xi Jinping do meet, here's an agenda item bound to figure prominently: rare earth elements.

當川普和習近平會面時，有一項議程肯定會備受關注：稀土元素。

關係子句

Right now, China holds a near monopoly over these strategic metals that are key components in so much that makes the modern world go: smartphones, robotics, EVs, also fighter jets, drones, and

目前，中國幾乎壟斷了這些戰略金屬，它們是現代世界許多重要組件的關鍵：智慧型手機、機器人技術、電動車，還有戰鬥機、無人機，以及

That is, China controls materials essential to America's ability to wage war.

也就是說，中國控制著美國發動戰爭所需的關鍵材料。

Tonight, the story of an American company confronting this elemental crisis.

今晚，我們要講一個美國公司如何面對這場元素危機的故事。

It mines rare earth elements, processes them, and makes them into super-powered magnets.

它開採稀土元素，進行加工，並製成超強磁鐵。

And it's part-owned by us, American taxpayers, in an unusual deal crafted by the federal government.

而且，它部分由我們美國納稅人擁有，這是聯邦政府精心策劃的一項不同尋常的交易。

In our southwest of Las Vegas, in the guts of the Mojave, mountain-passed California might be the ultimate front of our trade war with China.

在拉斯維加斯西南部，在莫哈維沙漠深處，山巒疊嶂的加州可能是我們與中國貿易戰爭的最終前線。

Behold the only active rare earth mine in the U.S.

看看美國唯一活躍的稀土礦場。

Are we stepping on rare earths as we speak?

我們現在說話時，是不是就踩在稀土上？

And Michael Rosenthal and James Latinski are the unlikely men in charge.

而 Michael Rosenthal 和 James Latinski 是這兩位意想不到的負責人。

Two Floridians in the snow, two finance types suddenly trafficking and mining in metallurgy.

兩位來自佛羅裡達的人，在雪地裡，兩位金融界人士，卻突然開始從事冶金的交易和開採。

You have no background in geology, and now you're running the biggest rare earth mining business.

你沒有地質學背景，現在卻經營著最大的稀土開採業務。

the idea that this entire supply chain was on the other side of the world in China, it just occurred to us that someone had to help fix this problem.

而整個供應鏈都在地球的另一端中國，這個想法讓我們覺得，必須有人來幫忙解決這個問題。

The Trump administration is keenly aware of the problem of China's rare earth dominance.

川普政府非常清楚中國在稀土方面的壟斷問題。

Doug Burgum is Secretary of the Interior.

If you have a cell phone, have a laptop, if you drive a car, then you're touching rare earth minerals and rare earth magnets.

如果你有手機、筆記型電腦，如果你開車，那你接觸到的就是稀土礦物和稀土磁鐵。

It's essential to everyday life, but it's also essential to aerospace, telecom, defense systems.

這是日常生活必需品，同時也是航空太空、電信、國防系統的必需品。

According to the military, one F-35 fighter jet contains about 100 pounds of rare earths incorporated into its various parts.

根據軍方說法，一架 F-35 戰鬥機大約含有 100 磅的稀土，這些稀土被整合到它的各種零件中。

defense industry is subject to the whims of China and Xi Jinping for military technology?

的國防工業，在軍事技術方面，是否會受制於中國和習近平的意願？

Well, this is one of the reasons why President Trump created the National Energy Dominance Council with a broad set of objectives.

嗯，這就是川普總統成立國家能源主導委員會，並賦予其廣泛目標的原因之一。

One of those was to make sure that we had secure supply chains for critical and rare earth minerals.

其中一個目標就是確保我們擁有關鍵礦物和稀土礦物的安全供應鏈。

Right now, we don't have secure supply chains of rare earths because China has cornered the market.

目前，我們沒有安全的稀土供應鏈，因為中國已經壟斷了市場。

They also weaponize it because if anybody in the rest of the free world said, "Hey, we're going to start mining or we're going to start refining," then they would target that particular mineral, dump a quantity onto the market, drive the price down,

他們也會將其武器化，因為如果自由世界的任何一個國家說：「嘿，我們要開始開採或提煉」，他們就會針對該特定礦物，向市場傾倒大量產品，壓低價格，

companies that were profitable, suddenly became unprofitable.

原本有獲利的美國公司，突然變得無利可圖。

Before we proceed, let's dispense with the misnomer.

在我們繼續之前，先來釐清一個不準確的說法。

Here's what is rare: sites with high enough concentrations of rare earths and accessible enough locations to make extraction worthwhile.

稀有的是什麼呢？是稀土濃度夠高且地點夠容易取得，足以讓開採變得有價值的地點。

In their purest form, rare earths aren't rocks but elemental metals.

它們純粹的形態不是岩石，而是元素金屬。

Deep cuts on the periodic table, numbers 57 through 71 in two others for those scoring at home.

在元素週期表中，從第 57 到 71 的元素，還有另外兩個（給在家裡計分的觀眾）。

Lanthanum, cerium, praseodimium, neodimium, samarium.

Julie Klinger is a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and

Julie Klinger 是威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校的環境研究教授，

a rare earths expert who's visited mines worldwide and written extensively on the subject.

也是一位稀土專家，她曾走訪世界各地的礦場，並對此主題有深入的研究。

The thing that distinguishes rare earth elements are their fantastic magnetic, conductive, and optical properties.

稀土元素之所以與眾不同，是因為它們擁有絕佳的磁性、導電性和光學特性。

So they're used often the way you might use spices in cooking, because if you add just a little bit of a certain rare earth element, say, to a magnet, that enables that magnet to be both very small and very powerful.

所以它們的使用方式，就像你在烹飪時使用香料一樣，因為你只要加入一點點特定的稀土元素，例如添加到磁鐵中，就能讓磁鐵變得非常小且非常強大。

Geologists found rare earths at Mountain Pass in 1949.

地質學家於 1949 年在 Mountain Pass 發現了稀土。

By the '60s, individual rare earths were being mined, separated,

到了 60 年代，個別的稀土元素已被開採、分離，

and utilized, not least uropeum, which enhanced the color red in early television sets.

並加以利用，其中銪（Europium）尤其重要，它能增強早期電視的紅色色彩。

Then, in 1982, researchers found that another, neodimium, strengthens magnets.

然後，在 1982 年，研究人員發現另一種元素釹（neodymium）能強化磁鐵。

And these super-high-powered magnets are used in everything from making your cell phone buzz to the navigation components for drones and smart bombs to high-speed rail and electric vehicles.

這些超強磁鐵的用途可說是無所不在，從讓你的手機震動、無人機和智慧炸彈的導航元件，到高鐵和電動車，都有它們的蹤影。

For decades, Mountain Pass was the world's rare earth mine.

數十年來，Mountain Pass 一直是全球的稀土礦場。

But gradually, then suddenly, mining and magnet-making began moving offshore.

但漸漸地，然後突然之間，採礦和磁鐵製造業開始轉移到海外。

Familiar story: China could do it cheaper.

這故事很熟悉：中國的成本比較低。

It's a difficult business to really break even.

這是一個很難真正達到損益兩平的行業。

In the 1990s, Mountain Pass fell victim to economics and to environmental regulators after radioactive water leaked into the desert.

到了 1990 年代，由於放射性水洩漏到沙漠，Mountain Pass 礦場就成了經濟和環保監管的犧牲品。

The mine languished for a decade, until a new company, Molycor, tried unsuccessfully to compete with China and revive the business.

這座礦場蕭條了十年，直到一家名為 Molycor 的新公司試圖與中國競爭並重振業務，但未能成功。

James Latinski was running a Chicago hedge fund looking for value in distressed companies.

James Latinski 當時經營著一家芝加哥的避險基金，尋找陷入困境的公司裡的價值。

When Molycor filed for bankruptcy in 2015, Latinski glimpsed opportunity.

當 Molycor 在 2015 年申請破產時，Latinski 看到了一個機會。

When you're running a hedge fund, there's not much tangible to it.

當你經營一家避險基金時，其實沒有什麼實體的東西。

And then I made the mistake of going out and looking at the site and seeing the assets.

然後我犯了一個錯誤，就是親自去看了那個地點，看到了那些資產。

Actually seeing what your investment looked like.

實際看到了你的投資是什麼樣子的。

And I was just blown away by the scale of the assets.

我被那些資產的規模給震撼到了。

This massive open pit, these concentric circles, a mine 3,000 feet across, 600 feet deep, with one of the world's richest deposits.

這個巨大的露天礦坑，同心圓狀，一座寬達 3,000 英尺、深 600 英尺的礦場，擁有世界上最豐富的礦藏之一。

Latinski turned to Michael Rosenthal, then working for a New York hedge fund.

Latinski 轉向當時在紐約一家避險基金工作的 Michael Rosenthal。

The two were close friends growing up, and they decided to partner.

兩人從小就是摯友，於是決定合作。

You appreciate the absurdity of the story.

你很能體會這個故事的荒謬之處。

兩位避險基金的夥伴買了一座礦。

When they bought the mine in 2017, it was underwater, financially and literally.

他們在 2017 年買下這座礦時，它在財務上和字面上都處於虧損狀態。

Thirty million gallons had puddled at the bottom.

They called their new company MP Materials and got the mine back up and running.

他們成立了新公司 MP Materials，並讓礦場重新運作。

Blasting earth, then crushing rocks into gravel, then milling it into fine powder.

炸開土石，然後將岩石壓碎成礫石，再研磨成細粉。

Latinski took over the business as CEO, while Rosenthal spent long days on site becoming an expert on rare earth mining and refining.

Latinski 擔任執行長接管公司，而 Rosenthal 則花費大量時間在現場，成為稀土開採和精煉專家。

How do you characterize the division of labor here?

I get dirty, and Jim explains what we're doing.

我弄髒自己，Jim 則負責解釋我們在做什麼。

Today, Mountain Pass employs more than 700.

如今，Mountain Pass 僱用了超過 700 人。

I cannot get over how extensive and intensive all of this process is once you're done with the actual mining.

我實在無法想像，一旦完成實際採礦後，整個過程是如此廣泛且密集。

Separating the rare earths from the rock and then each other.

是將稀土元素從岩石中分離出來，然後再將它們互相分離。

兩年前，MP 達成了一個重要的里程碑。

After investing hundreds of millions of dollars, it was able to refine neodimium and praseodimium to 99.9 percent purity.

在投入數億美元後，它成功將釹和鐠精煉至 99.9% 的純度。