Australia is now a significant player in rare earths, the key components used to manufacture magnets.

Click PLAY to hear about rare earth magnets.

As technology rapidly evolves, the importance of these rare earth magnets is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Explaining this strategic significance, Dr Chris Vernon, Chief Research Scientist at CSIRO, told Perth Today host Simon Beaumont that the control of the magnet supply is essentially the control of the future, as both current and emerging technologies incorporate these magnets.

“China is the dominate manufacturer of magnets at the moment, they probably make more that 90% of the worlds rare earth magnets,” he said.

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