Highlights

• China's Shenghe Resources deepens mineral control in Tanzania through an integrated mining and infrastructure development strategy.
• The U.S. lacks a comprehensive critical minerals policy, leaving Africa's strategic mineral opportunities largely unaddressed.
• Beijing's long-term rare earth strategy involves upstream mining, midstream processing, and downstream manufacturing control.

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In March of this year prominent China-based rare earth element mining and processing firm Shenghe Resources Holding Co. Ltd. (SH 600392), positioned as China’s globally ambitious rare earth conglomerate, announced a high-level diplomatic and industrial outreach visit to Tanzania aimed at deepening its control over African mineral supply chains. According to China Mining News, the delegation’s mission was to advance key mineral sands projects and accelerate the creation of what Shenghe calls its “African Mining Hub Strategy.”

While the company presents the trip as a model of international cooperation, it also signals Beijing’s growing success in embedding vertically integrated rare earth operations throughout the Global South—an arena where the United States and allied industrial strategies remain conspicuously underdeveloped.

Some Data Points--Rare Earth & Mineral Sands Expansion

During meetings with Tanzania’s Minister of Minerals, Minister of Water, and ruling CCM party leaders, Shenghe executives provided updates on the Fingoni Project. They shared development plans for the Tajiri Project, a strategic mineral sands and rare earth venture near the Port of Tanga. These two projects form the backbone of Shenghe’s dual development strategy for Tanzania, targeting both light and heavy rare earth elements (REEs) and ilmenite-zircon-rich mineral sands.

Shenghe’s pitch: combine technical investment, rare earth separation capacity, and downstream off-take agreements in China with Tanzanian job creation and infrastructure support—anchoring China’s long-term industrial influence in East Africa.

Geopolitical Implications: A Wake-Up Call for Western Planners

Shenghe’s Tanzanian push represents more than a mineral investment. It’s the methodical execution of China’s vertically integrated rare earth playbook:

• Upstream control of strategic mines via local joint ventures;
• Midstream leverage through Chinese-controlled refining and separation;
• Downstream lock-in via long-term offtakes back to Chinese magnet makers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. lacks a coherent Africa-facing critical minerals policy despite President Trump’s 2025 Executive Orders on permitting and tariffs. However, the chatter that the USA and Democratic Republic of Congo are exploring a deal gets louder.

Hosting world-class REE and graphite deposits, Tanzania remains absent mainly from U.S. development financing, export credit, or commercial diplomacy initiatives.

Key Meetings and Signals

• Shenghe met directly with Tanzania’s Minister of Minerals, as well as local officials in Pangani and Tanga, where both Fingoni and Tajiri projects are based.
• The delegation witnessed President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Pangani Bridge, where the Tajiri Project was publicly named as a priority infrastructure-linked development.
• Port authorities at Tanga Port, a key logistics node for Shenghe exports, held closed-door meetings with the Shenghe team to coordinate future export flow and infrastructure upgrades.

The inclusion of the Tajiri Project in the President’s speech signals that Beijing’s mineral diplomacy has reached the highest echelons of Tanzanian policy planning.

Benchmarking U.S. Gaps: Permits Aren’t Enough

While U.S. policymakers trumpet the fast-tracking of 20 critical mineral projects under FAST-41 and Section 232 investigations into rare earth imports, none of these efforts answer the fundamental challenge posed by China’s integrated model. Key deficiencies in the U.S. approach include:

• No midstream REE separation capability at commercial scale;
• No port-to-mine coordination for U.S.-allied projects in Africa;
• No multilateral development framework for Africa’s critical minerals sector.
• No strategic export financing mechanism for REE offtake or processing infrastructure.

By contrast, Shenghe is building a fully integrated logistics and supply chain corridor from Tanzanian ground to Chinese magnet factories, linking local infrastructure development with long-term strategic material control.

Time for a Western Rare Earth Doctrine?

Shenghe’s deepening relationship with Tanzania exemplifies China’s long-term strategy to dominate every stage of the rare earth value chain—from ore extraction to advanced magnet production. The message to U.S. and European industrial planners is clear: you don’t beat China in critical minerals by fast-tracking permits alone.

What’s needed is a fully integrated industrial policy:

• Midstream and downstream REE processing in the West;
• Strategic investment and offtake agreements in Africa;
• U.S. EXIM and DFC-backed port and rail projects tied to allied mining ventures;
• Technology-sharing, workforce development, and joint ventures that provide an alternative to China’s model.

Without this, announcements like Shenghe’s are not just news—they are declarations of strategic ground lost.

For continued coverage of China’s rare earth expansion and policy responses from Washington, Tokyo, and Brussels, visit www.RareEarthExchanges.com Reported by Rare Earth Exchanges staff | Translated and critically analyzed from original Chinese source: Shenghe Resources Co. Ltd. News Center, March 26, 2025 (opens in a new tab)