A startup company aims to break China's rare earth monopoly with a plasma reactor.

Radify Metals has raised less than $3 million, using plasma to process metal oxides to produce pure metals, with water vapor as the only waste.
Traditional rare earth processing requires大量化学试剂，污染严重，产线巨大。中国控制了全球70%以上的稀土加工产能，这是地缘政治里最硬的卡脖子
Radify's method: heat hydrogen to a plasma state, blow in metal oxide powder, strip away oxygen, and pure metal comes out the other end. The reactor is small in size and can be deployed in a distributed manner.
Currently working on samarium and dysprosium—two key rare earth elements used in magnets and electronic components. Future exploration includes hafnium, uranium, scandium, and titanium.
I can only say, that's awesome.