My understanding (from binge watching Asianometry) is that the rare earth metals are not mined directly. Instead they are extracted from ores in the tailings o

My understanding (from binge watching Asianometry) is that the rare earth metals are not mined directly. Instead they are extracted from ores in the tailings of large scale mining operations like coal or copper and refined by specialty processors. It is not commercially viable to mine the rare earth elements on their own. Because the price is only $2k/kg, it makes more sense to build a business around all the coal (or whatever) that has to be moved to get a kg of a rare earth. Because you still have to move all that dirt. Basically, the price reflects only the costs of refining, marketing, and distribution. Extraction is sunk cost.