You do not find them individually, which means you have to separate elements with close chemical properties. More often than not, the deposits contains relativ

You do not find them individually, which means you have to separate elements with close chemical properties. More often than not, the deposits contains relatively low concentrations of the stuff along with other minerals. To quote Wikipedia¹ > (...) during the extraction of the ores from rocks, a significant amount of water usage and wastewater production. Also, acidic substances are used during the extraction process, which can leach in to the soil and surrounding environment. In addition, due to the low abundance and varying spatial distribution of REEs, the mining process uses a significant amount of energy(...) [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#Environmental_Pollution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#Environment...