17 Jan 2025 9:36 am
Wrong.Skans » 17 Jan 2025, 8:35 am » wrote: ↑ The bottom line is that "rare earth minerals" ain't so rare. China doesn't have a lock on them by any stretch of the imagination.
Though rare-earth elements are technically relatively plentiful in the entire Earth's crust (cerium being the 25th-most-abundant element at 68 parts per million, more abundant than copper), in practice this is spread thin across trace impurities, so to obtain rare earths at usable purity requires processing enormous amounts of raw ore at great expense, thus the name "rare" earths.Because of their geochemical properties, rare-earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated in rare-earth minerals. Consequently, economically exploitable ore deposits are sparse.
Also...
When you add in North America's staunch environmental controls .....
China has a huge advantage ....
because it doesn't have those controls ....