3 ms·
My understanding of the reason why the mines are more expensive in the US is because some of the minerals extracted along rare earth materials are very slightly
by cm2187 7y ago
My understanding of the reason why the mines are more expensive in the US is because some of the minerals extracted along rare earth materials are very slightly radioactive, but enough to trigger US nuclear regulations, which makes mining uneconomical. It could probably be solved with more sensible regulations.
- Animats 7y agoWhere did that come from? The big problem with rare earth mines is huge tailings ponds.[1][2] Mountain Pass CA has a reasonably clean process. Even the Sierra Club approved. Molycorp built the current plant, but once they got going, China cut the price of rare earth metals. Then, once Molycorp went bankrupt, the price from China went up.[3] [1] http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150402-the-worst-place-on-... [2] https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6383411,109.6903271,3872m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6383411,109.6903271,3872m/da... [3] https://seekingalpha.com/article/4184580-new-china-rare-earth-embargo-damage-several-u-s-companies-technology-competitiveness https://seekingalpha.com/article/4184580-new-china-rare-eart...