Mark Smith
Mining executive and former CEO of Molycorp, the company long associated with the Mountain Pass rare earth mine. He provides first-hand perspective on the decline of the U.S. rare earth industry and current efforts to rebuild it.
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Apr 24, 2026 • 34min
Battlefield rare earths: How the U.S. lost to China
Mark Smith, former Molycorp CEO, and Emily Fang, NPR correspondent on China and supply chains, trace the rise and collapse of America’s rare earth business. They dig into Mountain Pass, China’s low-cost takeover, rare earths as a geopolitical weapon, Japan’s 2010 wake-up call, Molycorp’s risky comeback, and why Washington is now racing to rebuild the industry.
