Reports of Disinformation Campaign Against Rare Earth Processing FacilitiesReadout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Estonian Minister of Defense Laanet,[...]

The Department of Defense is aware of the recent disinformation campaign, first reported by Mandiant, against Lynas Rare Earth Ltd., a rare earth element firm seeking to establish production capacity in the United States and partner nations, as well as other rare earth mining companies. The department has engaged the relevant interagency stakeholders and partner nations to assist in reviewing the matter.

The exposure of the disinformation campaign comes roughly one year after the Biden Administration and Department published a Review of Critical Minerals and Materials under Executive Order 14017 "America's Supply Chains." That review highlighted ongoing concerns regarding a lack of transparency and overreliance on concentrated foreign sources of critical minerals in key U.S. supply chains for essential global civilian and national security applications.

The department remains committed to working with industry, the interagency, and partner nations to promote resilient, environmentally sustainable, and transparent supply chains for critical minerals and materials, both domestically and around the globe. To this end, the department recently announced an agreement under the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program to establish a modern and world class heavy rare earth element processing facility in North America. This effort is complementary to an ongoing light rare earth processing project awarded through the Defense Production Act Title III program last year. This facility will operate under existing federal, state, and local government environmental and worker health and safety regulations.

DoD appreciates the diligence of Mandiant in identifying this disinformation campaign, and will continue to work with our partners to provide accurate information related to this and other supply chain investments.