Jack Lifton, an 86-year-old rare earth consultant, first retired from the mining industry more than a quarter century ago. Now, amid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, he is busier than ever, advising mining firms on complex metallurgy to refine niche metals essential for consumer electronics, electric vehicles and military-grade weapons.
U.S. Rare Earth Expertise Nearly Extinct
The engineer-turned-consultant is one of the few Americans with experience processing rare earth elements, a business the United States once led before it was outsourced to China. Over the past year, the Trump administration has poured billions of dollars into rebuilding domestic supply chains. That has made Lifton a coveted repository of knowledge for firms racing to build plants capable of refining these critical metals.
Rare earth plants are complicated and expensive to build, especially in the U.S. where permitting timelines are far longer than in mining-friendly countries in Asia and South America. But perhaps the biggest challenge is finding talent to run the facilities. Even if Western companies secure enough raw materials to reduce reliance on China—which dominates every stage of the supply chain, from mining to magnets—chemical engineers and metallurgists experienced in rare earths have nearly gone extinct in America.
Consultant Says Talent Pool Is in Cemeteries and Assisted Care
“When companies ask me where to find them, I say, ‘Start with the cemeteries, then check assisted care,’” said Lifton, whose clients include Energy Fuels Inc., one of the U.S.’s most ambitious rare earth firms. “Anyone in the U.S. with experience is either dead or, like me, very old.”
The work is extraordinarily specialized. Lifton, who lives in Michigan, advises miners on complex metallurgy: how to isolate soft, silvery rare earths used in high-performance magnets, and where to source the technology needed to prepare them at commercial scale. Unlike commodities such as gold or copper, rare earths require an intricate refining process the U.S. has scarcely performed in decades. Separating the 17 elements can involve dozens of extraction stages and expertise taught at only a handful of universities or acquired through years in industry. Much of that know-how has migrated to China, now the world’s primary employer of specialists.
Companies Turn to Universities and Poaching
Some U.S. companies are partnering with universities to recruit students in engineering, metallurgy and chemistry. Others are poaching employees from rivals. At one company in France, a key team of engineers are in their 80s and, like Lifton, have been lured from retirement to help troubleshoot mineral processing plants.
The race for talent spilled into court in May, when MP Materials Corp., owner of the U.S.’s only operating rare earth mine, sued USA Rare Earth Inc., accusing the rival of orchestrating a hiring raid by recruiting a senior engineer and seven other employees along with proprietary information related to rare earth processing and magnet manufacturing. Ramaco Resources Inc., another aspiring U.S. producer, separately sued a former employee now working at USA Rare Earth, alleging he shared Ramaco’s proprietary research with USA Rare Earth.
Energy Fuels CEO Calls Talent Shortage a ‘Scary Proposition’
This kind of competition has made companies especially protective of their engineers. “We know some of our guys have been approached about jobs,” said Ross Bhappu, the chief executive of Energy Fuels, which relies on workers with a background in uranium processing to help expand its rare earth facility in Utah. “It’s a scary proposition. There are just not a lot of people who study rare earth chemistry.”
