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Brazil aims to become a major producer of rare earth metals as Western countries push to gain supplies needed to manufacture high technology devices.
随着西方国家努力争取制造高科技设备所需的稀土金属供应，巴西的目标是成为稀土金属的主要生产国。
Rare earth metals are 17 elements that are important to electronic equipment and to batteries, electricity storage devices.
稀土金属是 17 种元素，对电子设备和蓄电池（蓄电设备）非常重要。
South America’s largest country could become a competitor to China, which currently produces much of the world’s supply of the metals.
南美洲最大的国家可能成为中国的竞争对手，而中国目前生产的金属占世界供应量的大部分。
Brazilian officials hope to move the country into the world’s top five suppliers.
巴西官员希望将该国推进为世界前五大供应商之列。
Supporters of Brazil’s push say low labor costs, existing rules and being close to markets in Latin America are advantages.
这一行动的支持者表示，低劳动力成本、现有规则以及靠近拉丁美洲市场是优势。
But currently, low prices for rare earth metals, technical difficulties and concerns from possible lenders present problems.
但是，目前稀土金属价格低廉、技术困难以及可能的贷款人的担忧都是问题所在。
Brazil is believed to have the world’s third-largest supply, or reserves, of rare earth metals.
巴西被认为拥有世界第三大的稀土金属供应，或者说储量。
Serra Verde is the country's first rare earth mine. The mine started operations this year.
塞拉佛得角是该国的第一个稀土矿。该矿于今年开始运营。
Experts, business leaders and investors expect production to grow. Western governments are providing incentives.
专家、商业领袖和投资者预计产量会增长。西方政府正在提供激励措施。
Daniel Morgan is with Barrenjoey, an investment bank in Sydney, Australia.
丹尼尔·摩根就职于澳大利亚悉尼的一家投资银行——巴伦乔伊。
Speaking about Brazil’s possible rare earth supplies, Morgan said, “There have been some very meaningful discoveries made in the past couple of years.”
摩根在谈到巴西可能的稀土供应时说：“过去几年有一些非常有意义的发现。”
He added, “I do think outside of China, Brazil’s projects are the most economic greenfield projects available.”
他补充道：“我确实认为，在中国之外，巴西的项目是最经济的绿地项目。”
“Greenfield” normally means that the area involved is undeveloped or used only for agriculture.
“绿地”通常指所涉及的区域未开发或仅用于农业。
Currently, the United States and its allies depend almost completely on China for rare earth metals.
目前，美国及其盟国几乎完全依赖中国供应稀土金属。
However, the U.S. aims to develop its own supply chain for rare earths by 2027.
然而，美国的目标是在2027年之前发展自己的稀土供应链。
The goal is to provide enough materials to meet the needs of the defense industry.
目标是提供足够的材料以满足国防工业的需求。
China produced 240,000 metric tons of rare earth-related materials in 2023.
中国在2023年生产了24万吨稀土相关材料。
That is five times more than the U.S., the next biggest producer.
那是美国的五倍多，美国是第二大生产国。
China processes about 90 percent of the world’s supply to make permanent magnets, which are used in equipment such as wind turbines, electric vehicles and missiles.
中国处理全球约90%的供应，用于制造永磁体，这些永磁体用于风力涡轮机、电动汽车和导弹等设备。
Countries including Australia, Vietnam and Brazil aim to increase production, but their efforts have been slow.
澳大利亚、越南和巴西等国的目标是提高产量，但它们的努力进展缓慢。
In Brazil, Serra Verde has taken 15 years to develop.
在巴西，塞拉维德花了15年的时间来开发。
It is expected to produce 5,000 tons of rare earths once production starts.
预计一旦开始生产，将生产5000吨稀土。
The company’s chief, Thras Moraitis says production could double by 2030.
该公司的负责人特拉斯-莫拉蒂斯表示，到2030年产量可能翻一番。
He said his company’s mine and Brazil have “competitive advantages” that could aid development of the rare earths industry.
他谈到，他的公司的矿和巴西的矿具有“竞争优势”，这可能有助于稀土行业的发展。
These include geological qualities, electricity supplies and a skilled workforce.
这些包括地质质量、电力供应和熟练的劳动力。
But, Moraitis said development “will require continued support to establish itself in a highly competitive market.
但是，莫拉蒂斯表示，发展“需要持续的支持，才能在竞争激烈的市场中立足。”
Key processing technologies are controlled by a small number of players.”
关键的处理技术由少数参与者控制。
Reg Spencer, an expert with investment bank Canaccord said the country could have two or three more mines by 2030.
投资银行Canaccord的专家雷格·斯宾塞表示，到2030年，该国可能会有两到三个以上的矿山。
A barrier to getting big mining projects started has been a 70 percent drop in the price of many rare earth metals.
启动大型采矿项目的一个障碍是许多稀土金属价格下降了70%。
That means banks will be less willing to lend money for rare earth projects.
这意味着银行将不太愿意为稀土项目提供贷款。
Nick Holthouse is chief of Australian developer Meteoric Resources. He said, “Getting money at the moment is tough.”
尼克·霍尔索斯是澳大利亚开发商MeteoricResources的负责人。他说：“目前获得资金很困难。”
The company is aiming to make an investment decision in late 2025 for its Caldeira project in Brazil’s central state of Minas Gerais. It will produce both heavy and light rare earths.
该公司的目标是在 2025 年底就其位于巴西中部米纳斯吉拉斯州的卡尔代拉项目做出投资决定。该项目将生产重稀土和轻稀土。
In March, the U.S. Export-Import Bank expressed interest in lending Meteoric Resources $250 million for the project.
3月，美国进出口银行表示有兴趣为该项目向MeteoricResources贷款2.5亿美元。
Brazilian Rare Earths is at an early point in developing resources in the country’s northeast.
巴西稀土公司在该国东北部开发资源的工作尚处于初期阶段。
The company’s chief Bernardo Da Veiga said it is much less costly to mine in Brazil compared to Australia.
该公司的首席执行官贝尔纳多·达·维加表示，与澳大利亚相比，在巴西开采的成本要低得多。
Although low labor costs help developers, most countries are behind China in processing and producing rare earths.
虽然劳动力成本低有助于开发商，但大多数国家在稀土加工和生产方面都落后于中国。
To assist developers, Brazil’s government has set aside $195 million to help finance important mineral projects including mining rare earths.
为了帮助开发商，巴西政府已拨出1.95亿美元，用于资助重要的矿产项目，包括开采稀土。
The Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement that it wants to build an industry for creating alloys and finished products like turbines, motors and batteries.
矿业和能源部在一份声明中表示，希望建立一个生产合金和成品的产业，如涡轮机、电机和电池。
The ministry is also considering efforts to get rare earths from recycling old equipment and parts.
该部门也在考虑努力从回收旧设备和零件中获取稀土。
Such an effort might save costs on developing separate technologies and establishing a new supply chain.
这些努力可能会节省开发单独技术和建立新供应链的成本。
I’m Mario Ritter Jr.
我是小马里奥·里特。
