有一种资源，无论是我们国家还是同样作为超级大国的美国，那都是尤为重要，甚至到了能左右国家发展的程度，被应用于各种高精尖端的领域当中，尤其是军事领域。对于普通人来说，那些繁琐的专业术语听起来也许是晦涩难懂，但飞机大炮的数量，可就是最直观的印证了。

其实不仅仅是飞机大炮，所有现代工业发展都必须要用这一种近乎于万能的资源稀土。

到底什么是稀土？为什么每一个行业都离不开这种强大的资源？没有了稀土的话，美国又靠什么来创造强大的军事实力？又靠什么来打造数量众多的飞机导弹呢？

There is a kind of resource, whether our country or the United States, which is also a superpower, that is particularly important, even to the extent that it can influence the development of the country, and is used in various sophisticated fields, especially in the military field. For ordinary people, those complicated technical terms may sound obscure, but the number of aircraft cannons is the most intuitive proof.

In fact, it is not just aircraft cannon, but all modern industrial development must use this nearly universal resource rare earth.
What exactly is rare earth? Why can't every industry be separated from this powerful resource? Without rare earths, what does the United States rely on to create strong military strength? What can we rely on to build a large number of aircraft and missiles?
First of all, let's talk about what rare earth is. In fact, rare earth is a combination of many kinds of elements of the same family. Specifically, it is the sum of the lanthanide, scandium and yttrium in the periodic table. At present, there are 250 kinds of rare earth minerals in the world. No matter a few centuries ago or today when the world is undergoing great changes, they are all very precious "earth".
Looking at the world, which countries have such precious resources? It is mainly our country, India and the United States, but the United States is the country most unwilling to mine its own rare earths, and has always been "sealed off".
In January this year, our country released the Regulations on the Administration of Rare Earth (Draft for Soliciting Opinions), which formally clarified that the export of our country's rare earth resources will be restricted. This is mainly due to two reasons. One is that we also have huge demand. In addition, this resource is non renewable, and we will certainly establish our own strategic reserve of rare earth.
Since our country restricts the supply of rare earths and our country does not export rare earths, what is the United States thinking and doing at this moment? Are there any relevant measures?
As the United States, which is the least interested in mining its own rare earth resources, the policy of sealing off rather than mining has a long history, which is much earlier than that of our country.
Although this is the case in the United States now, it is not the case in history. In fact, during the Second Industrial Revolution, the United States had already begun to collect its own rare earth industry, and in the decades after World War II, the United States quickly became the world's largest supplier of rare earth.
At that time, the rare earth mines in the Montampas area of the United States had met more than half of the global demand. However, since the 1980s, they began to decline. By 2002, they had been completely closed.
Soon after, the government also announced that it would no longer mine and refine rare earth elements, and the rest would be sealed up. Since then, the rare earth resources of the United States have basically been imported from our country, but now our country's rare earth resources are also facing a crisis. At present, the proven reserves of our country are less than 40% of the global total. In contrast, the proven reserves of the United States account for 13% of the global total, ranking third in the world.
After knowing the situation of rare earth resources, let's have a look. What will happen to the United States without rare earth?
If this happens, it will be difficult to produce aircraft, missiles and some space equipment normally. This is a very dangerous signal for a large country.
According to the data released by Lockheed Martin, a famous F-35 series stealth fighter requires 417 kg of rare earth elements in the production process. At present, more than 400 F-35 series stealth fighters are in service in the U.S. military, and the consumption of rare earth resources is huge. In addition, fighter planes, missiles and aerospace will be built again in the future, Therefore, the reserve of rare earth is also very important.
According to the plan of the US military, we will continue to produce more F-35 series stealth fighters to replace them. The FA-18 "Bumblebee" carrier aircraft and the F-16 "Fighting Falcon" multi-purpose fighter aircraft, which are about to retire, will be empty talk if there is no rare earth resources.
The military demand is very large, and the industrial production demand is also very large. In addition, another analysis is from the US think tank. It will take 15 years for the US to achieve self-sufficiency in rare earth resources.
15 years is not long, but what can fill the gap? Moreover, the mining process of rare earth resources is very complicated, so it was decided to announce the re mining at this time, with a recovery period of 50 years.
Besides the time problem, there is another difficulty that needs to be broken through in the local area. That is, the United States has the largest reserves of rare earths, but they are all "fake rare earths". What is "fake rare earths"? Rare earth is a naturally occurring element. How can it be true or false?
In fact, it is not true that rare earth elements are fake. After all, rare earth elements are not jade in our country. There is also a difference between real and fake. The reason why the United States is a fake rare earth is that rare earth resources are divided into three categories: light rare earth, medium rare earth and heavy rare earth, each of which includes seven or eight elements.
So many elements will not be introduced one by one. In a more understandable way, light rare earth can be sold for 3000 yuan per ton, and heavy rare earth can be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan per ton. The difference can be seen from the price alone, but the price is only one aspect.
In the large family of rare earth elements, heavy rare earth elements are more rare, and more are used in more high-end technology fields, especially the weapons and equipment of the United States, which need heavy rare earth elements more. While the heavy rare earth resources are located in the east of the Asian continent, our country has a lot of heavy rare earth resources, and they are also under control at the moment. However, the heavy rare earth resources in the United States are less, and more are light rare earth. The United States still has a large import demand for heavy rare earth.
In terms of the current world pattern, having resources means having everything. From the perspective of rare earth resources, we have mastered a very important and critical link, which is also the basis for us to become a strong country. However, our country has lost a lot of resources, so it is natural to take restrictions and management to ensure that these non renewable strategic resources are better protected.
And with these resources, our future is more promising. What we should consider is how to protect resources and increase strategic reserves. What will be done when the rare earth reserves of the United States are insufficient?

首先咱们来说一说稀土到底是什么，其实稀土就是很多种同族元素的组合，专业一些来讲，就是元素周期表当中的镧系元素和钪、钇共十七种金属元素的总和，目前全球有250种稀土矿，无论是几个世纪以前，还是在世界巨变的今天，这都是一些非常珍贵的“土”。

放眼全球，这么珍贵的资源，到底有哪些国家有呢？主要就是我们国家，印度还有美国，但美国是最不愿意开采自己稀土的国家，一直以来都是“封而不采”的态度。

在今年1月份的时候我们国家公布了《稀土管理条例（意见征集稿）》，正式明确了我们国家的稀土资源将被限制出口，这主要基于两点原因，一个是我们自身也有庞大的需求，再加上这种资源本身就具有不可再生性，我们也必将建立起属于自己的稀土战略储备。

既然我们国家限制稀土的供应，我们国家不出口稀土了，那此时此刻的美国，又在想什么，做什么呢？有没有什么相关的举措呢？

作为最不喜欢开采自家稀土资源的美国，封而不采的政策也是由来已久，比我们国家可要早多了。

虽然美国现在是如此，但在历史上却不是这样的，其实在第二次工业革命时期，美国早就已经开始对自家稀土行业进行采集工作了，而在二战之后的几十年之内，美国也迅速成了全球最大的稀土供应国。

在那个时代，美国的蒙廷帕斯地区稀土矿就已经满足了全球一半以上的需求，但从上个世纪80年代后，就开始走下坡路了，到了2002年，就彻底关闭了。

不久之后，政府也宣布不再开采和提炼稀土元素，剩余的全部封存。从此之后，美国的稀土资源基本上都要从我们国家进口，不过如今我们国家的稀土资源也在面临着危机，目前我国探明的储量已经不足全球总量的4成，而相比之下的美国，已经探明的储量占全球总量的13%，位列全球第3位。

了解完了稀土资源的情况之后，那就来看看，如果没了稀土，美国会发生什么？

假如这样的情况真的出现，飞机导弹以及一些航天设备，就很难正常的生产了，这对于一个大国来说，可是一个非常危险的信号。

根据美国洛克希德·马丁公司公布的数据，一架著名的F-35系列隐形战斗机，生产的过程中就需要稀土元素417公斤，而目前在美国的部队当中，有400多架F-35系列隐形战机正在服役，稀土资源的消耗量是非常巨大的，何况后续还要再次建造战机，导弹，以及航天事业当中，所以对于稀土的储备也是很重要的。

按照美国军方的计划，还要继续生产更多的F-35系列隐形战机以替代，目前已经马上要退役的FA-18“大黄蜂”舰载机，和F-16“战隼”多用途战斗机，如果没了稀土资源，一切就都是空谈。

军事方面的需求量就很大了，而在工业生产方面的需求量也很大，除此之外，还有一项分析是来自于美国智库，美国想要实现稀土资源的自给自足，也还需要15年的时间。

15年的时间不长不短，但是其中的空隙又靠什么来填满呢？而且稀土资源的开采工艺，可是非常复杂，就选是此时宣布重新开采，也有50年的恢复期。

而且时间问题之外，当地还有另外一个难关需要突破，那就是美国的稀土储量最大，但都是“假稀土”，什么又是“假稀土”？稀土原本就是一种自然存在的元素，怎么又有真假之分呢？

其实不是稀土元素有真假，毕竟稀土元素不是我们国家的玉石，还有真假的区别，之所以说美国都是假稀土，主要原因是稀土资源被分为轻稀土，中稀土和重稀土这样三种类别，每一种都包括七八种元素。

那么多元素就不一一介绍了，用一种更容易理解的方式来说，轻稀土一吨3000元，重稀土一吨可以卖到几十万元，光从价格就能够看出其中的差距了，而价格只是一方面。

在稀土元素的大家族中，重稀土更加稀有，也更多的被用于更加高端的技术领域，尤其是美国的武器装备，更需要重稀土。而重稀土资源都在亚洲大陆的东部，我们国家就有不少重稀土，而且此刻也进行了管制，但是美国的重稀土资源就比较少了，更多的就是轻稀土，美国对于重稀土仍然有很大的进口需求。

对于现在的世界格局来说，有了资源就等于有了一切，就从稀土资源这一方面来看，我们就已经掌握了非常重要且关键的环节，这也是我们能够成为强大国家的基础，但我们国家的资源也流失了很多，自然要采取限制和管理，确保这些不可再生的战略资源得到更好的保护。

而且有了这些资源，我们的未来更加可期，要考虑的就是如何保护资源，增加战略储备，那么当美国稀土储量不足时，又会做出什么举动呢？