> How is neon extracted and why does one country have a 90% monopoly (in this specific grade)? "Specific grade" - you need very, very, very high purity gasses

> How is neon extracted and why does one country have a 90% monopoly (in this specific grade)? "Specific grade" - you need very, very, very high purity gasses for lasers. Noble gasses are very, very, very hard to purify because they are chemically inert. Welding gas (argon) is dirt cheap, 99.99% pure argon is surprisingly expensive, and semiconductor grade Argon, or Neon at 99.99999%+ purity far more. Ultrapure neon is a great example of a single source critical input for the semiconductor industry. There are hundreds of similar small companies around the world supplying something completely irreplaceable. Semiconductor industry is extremely fragile.