On September 24, 2026, Taiwanese media outlet China Times reported under the title "Not reliant on China!" that Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs' rare earths delegation is set to visit the U.S. at the end of October to visit four mining company headquarters in Colorado and Washington, and to interact with American businesses.

The article introduced that Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, in order to avoid China's control over rare earths, will launch a "third country expansion" model for its supply chain and has set a goal to self-sufficiency produce half of its rare earths by 2030. It reported that amidst the need for approximately 1,000 tons of rare earths, the Ministry's Central Geological Survey and Mining Center announced its plan to inspect Colorado and Washington.

Furthermore, the article stated that Xu Ming-hong (シュー・ミンホン), Director of the Center, cited the following reasons for choosing these inspection areas: Colorado is a concentration of mining and mines, with many headquarters of major rare earths developers located in the state capital Denver, while Washington is the seat of the federal government where information on laws and regulations and manufacturing processes is gathered.

According to the article, the Center's delegation will depart at the end of October and plans to visit four mining company headquarters in both locations to ascertain production volume information and interact with U.S. businesses. After returning to Taiwan, within one year, they aim to build an ore grade evaluation database, formulate related processes, and provide information on cooperation intentions between companies to government agencies. The next stage, it is said, will involve direct sampling at mines.

Moreover, while Taiwan mainly requires heavy rare earth elements, the U.S., which will be inspected this time, focuses on light rare earth elements. Therefore, the Center is also considering Canada and Australia, which are rich in heavy rare earth elements, as potential procurement sources.

The article conveyed that Director Xu has already visited three mines in Australia this year, and if a budget can be secured in the future, the Center plans to visit Canada. (Edited and Translated by Kawajiri)