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China isn't the only place with rare earth elements. Molycorp mine in Mountain Pass California for instance. The mine has been plagued with legal/financial prob
by jqm 11y ago
China isn't the only place with rare earth elements. Molycorp mine in Mountain Pass California for instance. The mine has been plagued with legal/financial problems, but the existence of rare earth elements that the US doesn't have are not the reason we don't go to war with China. To be cynical, if the US vitally needed those elements and China did indeed have all of them and was choking the supply off... at that point terrorists might suddenly appear in China requiring the US to send military troops to liberate the poor Chinese (and their rare earth elements).
- pdkl95 11y ago"If" the US vitally needs those elements? How much modern tech (or military hardware) can you name that doesn't require rare earths? > Molycorp Last I heard, they filed for bankruptcy, probably because of China cornering the refinement market. > The mine has been plagued with legal/financial problems Yes. The video I linked to was an attempt to work around those problems. It failed, but that doesn't mean a domestic source cannot happen in the future. for the rest, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10310969 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10310969