Meryllion's 833 km²

China's export restrictions on dysprosium and terbium, effective April 2025, have crystallized what the market knew was coming but priced as if it wouldn't. Supply for these two critical heavy rare earth elements runs at approximately 400 metric tons annually against demand exceeding 3,000 metric tons — a structural gap running at 7.5× supply, driven by permanent magnet demand in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and robotics. With China's own ionic adsorption clay (IAC) deposits in Jiangxi declining and Myanmar supply disrupted, that ratio is not correcting in the near term.

The substitution logic points clearly to non-Chinese IAC projects — specifically those combining the right geology, jurisdiction, metallurgy, and proximity to infrastructure. IAC operations carry a structural cost advantage over hard-rock operations: capital requirements of $10–50 million versus $100 million or more, development timelines measured in years rather than decades, and an environmental profile that substantially simplifies permitting. Shallow extraction, site rehabilitation, low radioactivity, no tailings facilities — these attributes matter both to project economics and to the political environment that approves them.